Who Would Have Thought
by Phoenix Of Hope
Summary: Pre-OotP ficcy of Lily and James- out of the ordianry bc it goes against what a lot of the fics were about.


Who Would Have Thought? By Ricca  
  
It was midnight, and everyone was sleeping. Everyone except Lily Evans, who sat in the Gryffindor common room, gazing into the fire. A tear slid down her cheek as Lily thought of how absolutely miserable she was.  
  
Lily Evans had everything, or so everyone thought. She was rich, smart, beautiful, popular- what else could a girl want? Lily wanted more, or less, depending how you see it. Lily wanted friends, real friends who cared about her feelings and liked her for her personality, not her clothes. She wanted a boyfriend that could say more than two words in a sentence and grunt. Lily was willing to give up everything she had to be happy, because she had been miserable for so long.  
  
"I need ice cream badly." Lily murmured to herself, standing up.  
  
"I don't care if I'm not supposed to sneak out." she removed her head girl badge from her cloak and placed it on a side table. Wiping a tear from her eye, Lily crossed the common room towards the portrait hole. Noticing a large square piece of parchment on the floor, she picked it up. Lily could have sworn she had seen it somewhere before. but where? Hoping to reveal something, anything really, Lily tapped the parchment with her wand. Immediately, as if someone was writing across the page, four messages appeared. [I] Mr. Prongs would like to know why Lily is crying. Mr. Padfoot thinks she should get her ice cream and be gone. Mr. Moony would like to add that she should be in bed. Mr. Wormtail thinks Lily Evans is a big ditz. [/I] A tear slid down Lily's perfect nose, and she crumpled up the parchment, shoving it into her cloak pocket. More tears streamed down her face as she realized [I] 'People actually think that of me.' [/I]. Quite suddenly, James Potter appeared from thin air less than a foot away from Lily. Scared silly, Lily opened her mouth to scream, but James started kissing her. It effectively quieted Lily, because she couldn't even form a single intelligent thought. All she knew for the next minute and a half was that she was kissing a guy who cared, and who was also a terribly good kisser. That was until Lily realized who this good kisser was.  
  
James Potter was the kind of guy every father wanted to keep his daughter as far away as possible from. James smoked, drank heavily, and fooled around with girls on a regular basis. It was a wonder to most students how James became head boy, because he was sidekick to the biggest prankster that had ever attended Hogwarts, Sirius Black. Maybe it had to do with the fact James was never caught, because teachers couldn't even prove he was at the scene. Or maybe he became head boy solely on his grades, which were top in the year, though no one ever saw him do homework or study. But still, James Potter was not the kind of guy a good girl would want to date, or kiss for that matter.  
  
Pushing James away, Lily regained herself. James still had his arms around her, one hand gently stroking her back.  
  
"Let me go." Lily was annoyed, why did she have to like this so much? Why him?  
  
"Maybe." James grinned. He was driving her nuts in more ways than one. While James wasn't incredibly hott, he was good-looking with his messy jet black hair and amazing sapphire blue eyes. But James was the kind of guy Lily's friends disliked for his ways, and Lily usually did whatever her friends thought was right. So Lily was torn between slapping him for coming onto her, and simply kissing him again.  
  
"James." Lily warned, and he let go of her.  
  
"If you'll excuse me." Lily said frostily, moving towards the portrait hole.  
  
"You're not mad at me, so drop the act." James caught her arm.  
  
"How do you know?" Lily snapped at him, looking up into those gorgeous blue eyes. James barely hit 6', but that didn't matter much, since Lily was only 5'3". Not answering her, James pulled Lily into a breath-taking kiss. When he drew back a minute later, James was grinning as Lily cursed herself.  
  
"That's how." James said softly. "Now," James adopted a more serious manner, "tell me why you wanted to drown your worries in fattening ice cream." James led Lily over to a couch, sitting down next to her.  
  
"How'd you know I wanted ice cream?" Lily wondered aloud.  
  
"Lucky guess. Now, what's bothering you?" James listened for an hour while Lily explained as best as she could why she was so unhappy.  
  
"Ok, there's one thing I don't understand." James commented after listening quietly, "if you hate it all so much, why do you go with it? Why don't you change it?"  
  
"I don't know. Its like. I can't help it, its who I am. I can't change who I am. If I wasn't this way, who would I be?" Lily trembled slightly, a small tear sliding down her cheek.  
  
"Aww, Lil, don't cry." Bad boy though he was, James couldn't bear to see a girl cry, especially if she really couldn't help it. He wiped away the tear for her. He leaned in, but Lily turned her head.  
  
"Please don't." She whispered. Shrugging James sat back. He didn't understand why he wanted to kiss her so much, there were plenty of other girls out there that he could have. But no, he wanted Lily Evans, there was no doubt about that. Why else would he have spent an hour listening to her troubles?  
  
"Goodnight, and thanks for listening." Lily smiled, James wasn't really all that bad; he was a nice guy when he wanted to be. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Lily went up to her dorm, James soon left for his; both of them forgot a certain crumpled up piece of parchment in Lily's cloak pocket.  
  
"Heeeellllllloooooo? Earth to Lily! Anything upstairs?" Lily's best friend, Tegan, was waving her hand in front of Lily's face to get her attention.  
  
"Hmm? Oh sorry, spaced out." Lily smiled vaguely. She had been thinking about James Potter, something that was becoming a more regular occurrence. It had been a week since their encounter in the common room, and they hadn't spoken since.  
  
"You got an owl." Tegan pointed out, wondering what in the world was bugging her friend; she seemed to be 'spacing out' a lot, as Lily put it.  
  
"Thank you muchly." Lily grinned, using her trademark thank you. She took a note from a snowy owl that she didn't recognize. [I] Lily, I believe you have something of mine, and I'd like it back. Meet me tonight in the common room at midnight- bring the parchment. -James [/I] Quickly folding up the note, Lily didn't let anyone read it, not even Tegan.  
  
"Come on, Lily, can I [I]please[/I] see the note?" Tegan begged that night in their dorm.  
  
"Nope." Lily shook her head; what her friends didn't know, didn't become gossip around the school.  
  
"LILY! You got a note from a secret admirer?" Mandy, another of the 7th year Gryffindor girls, practically shrieked with delight.  
  
"No, I know who it is from." Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"But Lily, what about John?" Julie, another of Lily's roommates, referred to Lily's boyfriend, John Bodine. John was a worthless pretty boy quidditch player, who had the intelligence of a sea slug.  
  
"What about him? It wasn't a love letter." Lily couldn't believe these girls- where did they come up with this stuff?  
  
"How are we supposed to know? I think you did receive a note from a admirer, and you're cheating on John!" Mandy deduced.  
  
"I'm not cheating on John." Lily threw her hands up in exasperation. She shook her head and climbed into bed, drawing the bed curtains closed. Over the next hour, Lily listened for her roommates to fall asleep. When she was sure they were, Lily crawled out of bed, checking her watch. It was five minutes passed midnight. Pulling on her cloak with the parchment in the pocket, Lily quietly slipped out of her dorm. Hoping this wouldn't take too long, Lily remained in her nightgown- a thin white cotton one that didn't leave much to the imagination. Clutching her cloak about her, Lily made her way to the common room.  
  
"Finally." James was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. He wondered for a moment what was under Lily's cloak, but shoved the thought from his mind; he needed the parchment.  
  
"Sorry. I though they would never fall asleep." Lily smiled, James had to be wearing what he slept in- a pair of muggle men's lounge pants and no shirt. [I] 'He's actually quite buff. Must be from quidditch practice. [/I] Lily thought to herself. James was on the house team; he played seeker and had been captain for the past three years, though no one paid attention to that little fact.  
  
"Do you have it?" James sounded impatient.  
  
"Hold your horses. I want to know why an insulting piece of parchment means so much to you." Lily asked, her arms folded across her chest to prevent her cloak from opening. James thought hard for a moment.  
  
"If you give it back, I'll show you what it really does." James offered, hand extended. Reluctantly, Lily took the parchment out and smoothed the wrinkles from it.  
  
"Here." Lily gave him the parchment.  
  
"Now let me show you what the Marauder's Map really does." James grinned, leading Lily over to a couch.  
  
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." James tapped the parchment with his wand. From the exact spot where his wand tip had been, spidery ink lines flowed across the parchment, criss-crossing and overlapping. When it was done, Lily was amazed. In front of her was the most detailed map she had ever seen. It even showed where people were. There were two dots in the Gryffindor common room, labeled [I]James Potter[/I] and [I]Lily Evans[/I].  
  
"Wow." Lily breathed, looking at all the corridors she knew well, and some passages that had to be hidden. A few of the seemed to lead right off the map into Hogsmeade.  
  
"We made this." James whispered in her ear. For some odd reason, he wanted to impress her- badly.  
  
"You did?" Lily looked up from the map, wide-eyed with wonder. "How?"  
  
"We found all the passages. That took us four years. Then we drew the map and enchanted it. This single piece of parchment has allowed the Marauders to pull off countless pranks." James' voice had a hint of pride when referring to his friends, who called themselves the Marauders. There were four of them: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was the ringleader, and was a lot like James in the area of 'bad habits'. Remus and Peter were clean though. Remus was a lot of the brains behind it all- he was rather quiet and reserved. Peter just tagged along, no one else would let him hang out with them.  
  
"This is amazing." Lily breathed, touching it lightly. Forgetting that she had to hold her cloak, it fell open slightly. James now knew what was under there, and he wanted her now more than ever. Lily looked up at James when she felt his stare. They locked eyes for a split second. then kissed. This time Lily didn't pull away; she actually wanted to kiss him- screw her friends, screw her boyfriend, screw everyone. She wanted James, and that was that. The kiss became more passionate as Lily let the Marauder's map flutter to the floor; James leaned back, gently pulling her down, running his hands through her soft red hair.  
  
Tegan sat in bed, frowning. It had been at least an hour since she heard someone leave the dorm. And she suspected that someone was Lily. At first, Tegan had passed it off as Lily was just going to the bathroom. Now she wasn't so sure; she was gone much too long for that. Was Lily meeting someone? Was she cheating on John? There was only one way to find out- go after her. Tegan pulled on her dressing gown, and slipped out of the dorm; noticing that it was Lily's bed that was empty. Tegan tread lightly down the stairs to the common room, and stopped dead at what she saw. Lily was making out with JAMES POTTER?!  
  
"Lily!" Tegan cried in a normal voice, startling the couple on the couch. Lily's cloak lay forgotten on the floor next to them.  
  
"Te-[I]gan[/I]! What are you doing here?" Lily hissed, not letting go of James.  
  
"More like what are you doing here!" Tegan continued in a normal voice.  
  
"Tegan, hush. I can explain." Lily started to get up, James looked unhappy but said nothing. In fact, he picked up the Marauder's Map and quietly said "Night Lil." He went off to his dorm, leaving the two girls to sort this out.  
  
"How could you? You have a boyfriend! And with [I]James Potter[/I] too!" Tegan spat the name as if it tasted bad.  
  
"Look, that wasn't supposed to happen. I was just supposed to give him back something that I had found. That's all. I swear." Lily hurriedly explained, pulling on her cloak. Tegan looked disbelieving.  
  
"Lily, if you're going to kiss James, I can't stop you. But you have to break up with John, I can't let you cheat on him." Tegan said resignedly.  
  
"Why are you doing this to me? Its not like I meant to!" Lily sounded exasperated. The two of them made it to their dorm.  
  
"Because we're best friends, that's why." Tegan murmured, crawling back into bed and pulling her curtains shut.  
  
'Best friends.' The words rang in Lily's head long after Tegan had fallen asleep. [I] 'Maybe she's not so shallow after all.' [/I] Lily thought to herself as she fell asleep.  
  
"Lily, honey, aren't you going to do something with your hair?" John Bodine asked his girlfriend gently. Lily had just gotten up that morning, and threw on some clothes. And here was her dumb boyfriend caring about how they looked together in the common room before they went to breakfast. God forbid Lily leaving the common room with out doing her hair!  
  
"No." Lily answered honestly. She was sick of how he only liked her for her looks; he didn't care one fig about her personality.  
  
"But Lily, dear." John continued.  
  
"John, is that all you care about? How I look?" Lily snapped, turning towards him.  
  
"Uh, well, not really." John looked at the floor. What was her problem this morning? First she wouldn't look nice, now she was gearing for a fight?  
  
"Not [I]really[/I] NOT F**KING REALLY?" Lily shrieked, losing her temper. This was it, the last straw. She couldn't stand his stupidity and shallowness anymore. John and everyone else in the common room stopped in their tracks. No one had ever heard Lily Evans curse, not [I]ever[/I].  
  
"Lily, what's wrong with you?" John asked, confused.  
  
"What's wrong with me? Its more like what's wrong with you! One day out of the week I decide to leave my hair down and you jump on my back about it Then you basically tell me that all that matters to you is how I look. Well guess what, [I]buster[/I], I'm not taking it anymore. We are through. That's it, no more. Goodbye John." Lily ranted angrily. She swept out of the common room, leaving stunned students behind. All of them were thinking along the lines of [I]'What brought that on?'[/I].  
  
Lily continued down to breakfast, when she sat down next to Tegan.  
  
"You're mad, what happened?" Tegan looked up from her oatmeal.  
  
"John. I broke up with him. He only cared about my looks." Lily added bitterly.  
  
"Now, now, its ok. Cheer up, have something fattening." Tegan gave her a small smile.  
  
"I guess I could." Lily was sorely tempted. The only thing that stopped her would be her roommates' looks of horror when they found out. They all thought Lily had to diet like mad to stay thin, which was the opposite of the truth. Lily could eat whatever she want, whenever she wanted, and not gain a pound. Most girls, such as her roommates, were not so lucky.  
  
"Go on, you and I both know you can." Tegan offered her a doughnut. Lily took it with a grin.  
  
"You know me way too well." Lily sighed, biting into the vanilla crème doughnut. "Go on, have one. You know you want it." Lily grinned, offering the plate to Tegan.  
  
"Well." Tegan hesitated. She'd have to work off all those extra calories  
  
"We'll go running or something this afternoon. Don't worry. That's half your problem." Lily giggled as Tegan decided on a Boston crème doughnut.  
  
"Looks like we'll be doing two miles." Lily giggled as she reached for her second pastry.  
  
"Yeah." Tegan agreed, getting her second too.  
  
"What, in the name of dieting, are you two doing? Do you know how much fat and calories there are in those!" Mandy squealed, coming over to them.  
  
"Eating. Don't look that way, we're going running this afternoon. You can join us if you want." Lily tempted her with the plate of doughnuts.  
  
"You just had to talk me into it!" Mandy giggled as she selected a powdered jelly doughnut.  
  
"So Lily, why did you break up with John?" Mandy asked through mouthful of jelly doughnut.  
  
"He just care about my looks and I was sick of it." Lily answered, deciding to go for a third doughnut.  
  
"Lily! That makes three miles! We're never going to make it!" Tegan giggled, also going for her third.  
  
"I know." Lily grinned back. She really didn't plan on running at all that afternoon- it was just an excuse.  
  
"You're incorrigible." Tegan rolled her eyes.  
  
"Lily, would you care if I dated John?" Mandy bit her lip. John had gone to her right after the episode with Lily.  
  
"No, you can have him. He's yours." Lily shook her head. [I] 'How she can see anything in him is beyond me. Heck, I don't even know what I saw in him!' [/I] Lily smiled to herself. Things were looking up. Lily finished her doughnut.  
  
"Well, I'm going to go back up to our dorm, see you guys later." Lily stood up.  
  
"Too-da-loo!" Tegan answered.  
  
"Sure. Buhbye!" Mandy grinned; she was working on her second doughnut. Back in her dorm, Lily sat on her bed, taking out her diary. She hadn't been writing for two minutes when the door cracked opened.  
  
"You alone?" James' voice asked from the hallway.  
  
"Yeah." Lily shoved her diary away.  
  
"I wanted to know why you broke up with John- it wasn't because of last night, was it?" James entered the room, sitting down next to Lily on her bed.  
  
"James, I-" Lily abruptly stopped when she herd voices in the hallway.  
  
"Tegan and Mandy. We've got to hide or something." Lily jumped to her feet, and scanned the room for a likely spot. Her eyes lit on the closet.  
  
"Perfect." Lily pulled James into the walk in closet, behind the curtain of clothes that were hung up.  
  
"Mmm, its nice in here." James whispered in Lily's ear, put his arms around her. Lily giggled quietly  
  
"Why did you break up with John?" James asked again, massaging her back with his hands.  
  
"I couldn't take him anymore. He's an idiot." Lily rested her head on James' shoulder. James lifted her chin and peered into the fiery green eyes that Lily possessed.  
  
"Sneak out with me tonight. You know, for some excitement." James grinned. He wanted to get to know her better, even if she was a popular, as he classified them.  
  
"I don't know." Lily trailed off as James kissed her neck.  
  
"Say yes. We'll have fun." James murmured.  
  
"Yes." Lily answered without thinking.  
  
"That's my girl." James kissed her as the voices outside the door grew louder.  
  
"Where could Lily be? She said she would be here!" Mandy was saying.  
  
"I don't know, lets go check the common room." Tegan's voice floated away as the two girls left their dorm. Lily would have giggled, but she and James were, err, rather [I]busy[/I].  
  
"James, you have to go. They're looking for me." Lily murmured a half hour later when Tegan and Mandy had left the dorm a second time, still searching for Lily.  
  
"If I must." James grinned. "Meet me tonight in the common room. We'll go for an adventure. Wear your black cloak, it may be chilly." James gave her one last kiss. Rather than going for the door to the dorm, James searched the wall next to them.  
  
"James, silly, the door is that way." Lily pointed.  
  
"No, I'm looking for this passage. aha!" James' fingers slid into a shallow groove and a small panel popped out.  
  
"I'll see you tonight. Midnight." James kissed Lily goodbye and crawled into the secret corridor. Lily was slipping out of the closet as Tegan entered the dorm.  
  
"Lily!" Tegan's eyes widened as she took in Lily's mussed appearance. "Have you been in there the whole time?" Lily grinned and nodded, humming a cheerful tune as she went to the mirror and straightened her hair and such.  
  
"You weren't alone, were you?" Tegan narrowed her eyes. Lily giggled and nodded again.  
  
"So you're basically telling me that you and James hooked up in a closet. Our closet mind you." Tegan rolled her eyes as Lily giggled and nodded for the third time.  
  
"You really like him, don't you?" Tegan smiled, she had never seen Lily act this way before, especially for a boy. Lily paused in the brushing of her hair.  
  
"You know what, I think you may be right." She turned to Tegan.  
  
"But don't tell anyone." Lily bit her lip. All she needed was it to go around the school that she liked James Potter.  
  
"I won't, you know that." Tegan grinned. In all truth, Tegan didn't mind the Marauders. Actually, she really [I]liked[/I] Remus. But that's another story for another time.  
  
That night, after the other girls had gone to sleep, Tegan was talking to Lily as she got ready to meet James. Right now, Lily was trying to find the right outfit for an 'adventure', whatever James meant by that.  
  
"What do you think of this?" Lily held up a pair of dark jeans and a stretchy black tee.  
  
"Perfect." Tegan grinned. Maybe if Lily actually started hanging out with James then she could strike up a conversation with Remus. Lily changed into the outfit and slipped on sneakers.  
  
"How do I look?" Lily giggled, spinning around.  
  
"Beautiful, dahling, beautiful." Tegan imitated an exaggerated American southern drawl. She chanced a peek at the clock.  
  
"You gotta go. Have fun." Tegan gave her friend a hug. "I want to hear all about it tomorrow." She gave Lily a slight push out the door.  
  
"Bye." Lily grinned and hurried to the common room.  
  
"Nice shirt." James smiled when he saw her come down the stairs. She always looked good, no matter what she wore. That dumb idiot John just didn't realize it.  
  
"Thanks. Now where are we going for our 'adventure'?" Lily asked, she was excited. An adventure with James Potter was sure to be fun.  
  
"I thought we make sneak into Hogsmeade for a butterbeer, or we could roam around the castle, leaving little traps for people." James suggested.  
  
"Both." Lily grinned; tonight was going to be a blast.  
  
"Ok, Three Broomsticks is open until two, so we should probably go there first." James checked his watch.  
  
"Lets go." James put his arm around her waist and led her out. James and Lily talked as they went along, telling each other about their lives and what they liked to do. They walked to a statue of a one eyed witch with a hump. James stopped in front of it.  
  
"Here we are." James pulled out his wand and tapped the hump, saying 'Dissendium'. The hump opened revealing a stone slide. James gave Lily a lift up, then climbed in himself. At the bottom, they stood up, dusted themselves off, and resumed their conversation, walking down the stone tunnel. After what seemed like a second to them, but much longer in reality, they reached a large set of stairs.  
  
"Watch it." James suddenly said, grabbing Lily's hand so she wouldn't go up the next step. They had been climbing for awhile. She looked at him curiously as James opened the low ceiling above them. They came out in a basement.  
  
"Be quiet." James whispered and threw his slivery cloak over both of them, making them disappear. That's when Lily realized that this was an invisibility cloak, which were very rare indeed. James led Lily out a side door in the basement, out into an alley.  
  
"There we go." James shoved the cloak into Lily's bag, which she insisted on taking along.  
  
"Come on, let's go someplace warmer." James suggested, noticing that Lily was shivering slightly. Lily nodded and the two of them walked to the pub, where they were greeted with light and warmth.  
  
"Hello James. Lily, isn't it?" A tall girl behind the bar welcomed them. Lily nodded, smiling.  
  
"Two butterbeers, please, Rosie." James placed his order. He knew that Rosemarta, the girl behind the bar, wouldn't turn them in. The Marauders generated a lot of business when decided to throw parties, which was often. They always threw one for every quidditch game, though no one ever thanked them at all. The Marauders did it for themselves, a good excuse to sneak out and also they got control of the food- sometimes they would hex things so that they would cause the person eating it to change in some way.  
  
"Coming up." Rosemarta got down two mugs and filled them with the warm, steaming liquid. James paid while Lily brought the drinks to a small table for two.  
  
"Hey." James smiled as he came over to the table.  
  
"You know, I think butterbeer tastes better if you sneak out to get it." Lily grinned, slipping her drink.  
  
"I always have believed that." James smiled at her. She really wasn't as big of a ditz as she presented herself, you just had to take the time to get to know her. He smiled at her again; this was the first girl he ever wanted to know beyond a half hour of making out on a couch or in a closet. Lily blushed slightly and looked at her drink. Tegan was right, Lily really did like James. He wasn't such a 'bad boy' when you got to know him, he just wanted to have fun. They locked eyes for a few moments, and leaned in. They kissed a small simple kiss, yet both were content and happy with it. This was the start of something new for both of them.  
  
"What shall we do now?" James and Lily were in the stone tunnel heading back to the castle.  
  
"Lets roam around the castle. Do something that will never let them forget us." James grinned.  
  
"Yes. But what to do?" Lily wondered, there we so many possibilities.  
  
"I've been thinking about this one for awhile. How about making the middle step on some of the stairs disappear whenever someone goes to step on it." James, indeed, had thought about doing that for awhile. He had never had the perfect partner in crime though, the Marauders just weren't right for this one.  
  
"That's perfect!" Lily hugged James, this was just too good to be true. Here she was, with a guy she absolutely adored, and they were going to pull the prank that Hogwarts will never forget.  
  
"Yeah." James smiled. Lily Evans was a character and a half; no one else could compete with her. James and Lily soon made their way back up to the tower. The hexed every set of stairs that they came upon, roughly 40 in all.  
  
"I had a great time tonight." Lily said softly, facing James in the common room.  
  
"Me too. We'll have to do that again sometime." James wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him. This was the first girl he had ever hugged, just because.  
  
"Yeah. Sometime soon." Lily kissed him.  
  
"Goodnight. See you around." Lily smiled, going up the stairs towards the girl's dormitories. James was still smiling, even after she was gone. James slowly went up to his dorm.  
  
"Who's the girl, James?" Sirius' voice asked as soon as James had shut their dorm door. Sirius was sitting on his own bed, waxing his dreadlocks; his nose ring was on the bedside table next to him.  
  
"There's no girl." James shrugged.  
  
"Yes there is. You have been going off alone a lot, and for at least an hour at a time, if not more. Who's the girl?" Sirius looked up at James from his seat on his bed.  
  
"No one important." James shrugged again, striping off his shirt.  
  
"Important to you. Very important. First love, I bet." Sirius snickered. James remained impassive and didn't say anything.  
  
"So its true. Jamie has found his first love." Sirius laughed. "Good for you, except a girlfriend is gonna cramp your style. No more girls, no more weed, no more booze. That is what you get with a girlfriend." Sirius grinned evilly.  
  
"If it has to be that way." James said quietly.  
  
"Damn! You really like her, don't you? Huh, well good luck with your mystery woman." Sirius lay back on his bed.  
  
"I'll need it." James answered as he got into bed.  
  
"I wonder who she is. I bet she's in 7th year; you don't really go for the younger chicks. Julie, Mandy, Tegan, Lily- HA! Lily Evans! Would that be a hoot! You and Lily Evans!" Sirius laughed so loud that Remus and Peter woke up.  
  
"What's 'smatter?" Peter asked groggily.  
  
"James has found a girlfriend and he won't tell us who she is." Sirius told them.  
  
"She's not my girlfriend." James grumbled.  
  
"Well, the way you're acting, you'll probably be asking her soon. Anyway, so I was listing the 7th year girls, and came up with Lily Evans. Would that be a riot? Lily Evans and James Potter." Sirius got the rest of the Marauders laughing. James just rolled his eyes and shut his bed curtains.  
  
"Ooh. Jamie's mad." Sirius snickered.  
  
"Get to sleep, you obviously need it." James growled. Only because he was head boy, the rest complied and kept their talking to a minimum.  
  
"I have received word that our school was vandalized last night. Some of the stairs now have a vanishing step that can't be removed except by the party that placed them there. If they turn themselves in, no punishment will ensue. If no one comes forward, everyone will be punished. I'll be in my office for the rest of the day, should the guilty party wish to reach me." Dumbledore spoke at breakfast the next day. Lily glanced at James, who was smirking in her direction. Their eyes met for a second and they smiled.  
  
"Lily, who're you lookin' at?" Mandy glanced down the table, seeing no one worth looking at.  
  
"Oh, no one. Just spacing out again." Lily grinned, looking in the other direction.  
  
"Can you believe someone did that? I mean, no one's gonna like it if they get caught in the stairs. I heard you need someone to pull you out if you get stuck." Tegan was rambling, like always.  
  
"I think its kinda funny." Lily smiled absently, remembering last night.  
  
"Not when you get caught in it!" Tegan persisted, until she saw Lily's faraway look.  
  
"Lily! Bathroom break, now." Tegan pulled Lily from her seat and dragged her to the bathroom.  
  
"You did it, didn't you? You and James. That was your 'adventure'." Tegan narrowed her eyes.  
  
"That was only half of it. We snuck into Hogsmeade for butterbeer too." Lily smiled in memory. "He's so wonderful."  
  
"Well that's nice to know. If he's so wonderful then why'd he turn out the way he did? James isn't any good- he smokes pot, hangs at the Underground, drinks, and fools around with girls. Why are you setting yourself up? Lily, I don't want you hurt. He's a bad influence, Lil." Tegan adopted a motherly tone but pleaded as a friend.  
  
"Tegan, you don't understand. His mother is a wispy little thing that can't say a thing for herself, and James' father is overbearing but rarely pays any attention to James. James is a really nice guy when he wants to be. He listened to me for a whole hour while I prattled on about how miserable I was. Now that I have James in my life, I'm happy Tegan! Really happy! He makes me feel wanted and loved. And safe too. Just being in his arms is all it takes. He's not so bad. Sure he has a few bad habits, but if you noticed, he hasn't looked at a single girl this year besides me. You never see random girls on his arm anymore. James is a good guy, he just doesn't like people that much. He sticks to his friends and has fun. That's all. And I think I love him." Lily sat down heavily on one of the chairs in the little sitting room that annexed the bathroom.  
  
"Wow." Tegan was surprised. She hadn't expected any of that. "Lily, if he's as good as you say he is, I believe you. I also bet you could change him Lily. Don't listen to me, I just ramble. But if you really like him, and you promise not to hurt anyone in your adventures, keep on having them. Just one more thing Lily, don't let him hurt you, or compromise you in anyway. You're a good girl Lil, and we want to keep you that way" Tegan hugged Lily. "That's all I have to say. Come on, we'll be late to class." Tegan dragged a very quiet Lily to Charms.  
  
Tegan's words were repeating themselves over and over inside Lily's head the rest of the day. [/I]'Would he really hurt me? What did she mean, him compromising me?'[/I] Questions filled Lily's head; she was so confused.  
  
"Hey babe." James cooed in her ear. They were in an empty classroom- everyone else had left for lunch.  
  
"James." Lily smiled, her troubling thoughts leaving her. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss. When they broke apart, she was still in his arms.  
  
"Lily, um, will you wear this? And, you know, be my girl?" James murmured, pulling a ring out of his robe pocket. It was a silver band with a small emerald and a small sapphire side by side as the setting.  
  
"James, it's beautiful." Lily whispered, letting him slip it onto her right hand ring finger.  
  
"My mother got it from my dad when they were first dating. She told me to give it to a girl I cared about, when I found her." James had a slight pale tinge of pink to his cheeks. James Potter, who always kept his cool, was sure losing it over Lily Evans.  
  
"I love it even more." Lily grinned, kissing him on the cheek.  
  
"Let's go down to lunch." Lily threw her bag over her shoulder and took James' hand. They walked down to the hall like that. At the doors, James let go and held the door open for her. Lily thanked him and took her usual seat, near the center of the table. James and his friends sat at the end farthest from the teacher's table.  
  
"Lily, why were you talking to James Potter?" Mandy questioned, torn between disgust and curiosity.  
  
"He's head boy. We were discussing head student stuff." Lily answered ominously. She helped herself to food, while Mandy looked disbelieving.  
  
"Like what?" She demanded.  
  
"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise or top-secret for that matter." Lily told her smoothly.  
  
"A surprise?! Ooooh!!!! What kind of surprise?" Mandy asked excitedly.  
  
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." Lily repeated herself. She noticed that Tegan was being extra quiet for some reason.  
  
"What's up in Tegan-land?" Lily waved her hand in front of Tegan's face, getting her attention.  
  
"You're wearing a ring." Tegan pointed out. Lily never wore rings, she said they [I]'Cluttered up your hands'[/I]. Weird.  
  
"Don't you like it? I [I]just[/I] got it." Lily held out her hand, admiring her ring, conveniently not saying where or whom she got it from.  
  
"Lily! That ring is SO pretty!" Mandy squealed, launching into a conversation about rings that lasted the whole lunch period. Tegan was unusually quiet, picking at her food. Maybe James wasn't quite so bad, if he liked Lily enough to give her such an expensive ring. Tegan could tell that it had to have been very expensive, the band was sterling silver and those were genuine stones in the setting.  
  
"Tegan, can you believe it? I'm going out with James Potter." Lily sighed happily. It was just her and Tegan in the dorm that afternoon, an hour or so before dinner.  
  
"I'm happy for you." Tegan couldn't help but smile at Lily's pure joy.  
  
"It's just so perfect! He told me his mum got this same ring from his dad when [I]they[/I] were dating! And he basically told me he cares about me. Oh Tegan, this is just perfect!" Lily was chattering on, admiring her ring for the billionth time that day. Tegan checked her watch.  
  
"Oh man, Lily! I have got to run! I'm almost late for that prefect's meeting! I'll see you at dinner, k?" Tegan rushed about, grabbing what she needed.  
  
"Sure!" Lily called as Tegan dashed out the door.  
  
"Ahh, Lily. Just the girl I wanted to see." An oily voice called to her from behind. Lily was on her way to dinner and was practically oblivious to everything.  
  
"What? Oh, Severus! How nice to see you. And your friends too." Lily turned around, pasting a fake smile on her face.  
  
"Lillian, I have something to ask of you." Severus Snape smiled, coming up to her while his gang of Slytherins held back.  
  
"Ok, what?" Lily hoped this wouldn't take too long. She really wanted to get out of his presence; he gave her the creeps.  
  
"Will you be my girlfriend?" Snape took her in his arms. Lily squirmed to get away, but couldn't.  
  
Around the corner, Tegan surveyed the scene, then left for the Gryffindor Tower at top speed.  
  
"James! Look, you [I]have[/I] to come with me now. Trust me." Tegan was clutching a stitch in her side, finding James sitting with the Marauders in the common room- like always.  
  
"Ok. What's going on?" James asked, getting to his feet.  
  
"You'll see. Just hurry!" Tegan practically pulled James out of the portrait.  
  
"Huh. Never would have thought of Tegan. Didn't think she was his type." Remus commented as James quickly followed Tegan out.  
  
"What's wrong? Is it Lily?" James sounded concerned.  
  
"Yeah, Severus Snape and his gang have her cornered. He wants her to date him." Tegan explained quickly.  
  
"WHAT?! That Slytherin slimeball? Where are they?" James exploded. If there was anyone in the world that James hated, Snape would be that person. They had gotten off on the wrong foot when they met on their first train ride to Hogwarts, and have hated each other since.  
  
"Right outside the entrance to the dungeons." Tegan called as James sprinted off in that direction. When James arrived, there was a crowd of students and Severus was still pawing Lily.  
  
"Say yes." Snape cooed, trying to kiss her.  
  
"No! Just let me go!" Lily tried to get away but she was a lot weaker than Snape.  
  
"Get your hands off her." James growled, pushing his way through the spectators, who weren't keen on moving. People from all four houses were watching the scene that was playing out.  
  
"Ahh, if it isn't Potty. How nice of you to join us." Snape sneered, seeing who it was. He was still held Lily, who looked extremely relieved to see James.  
  
"James!" Lily's face lit up when she saw him, and tried her best to get to him.  
  
"So it's him you want? Fine. But don't come crying to any of us when you're pregnant with Potter's child." Snape growled, pushing Lily away from him, causing her stumble.  
  
"I would [I]never[/I] go crying to [I]you[/I]." Lily sneered, then actually spit on him. Snape's expression turned hard. He wiped the spit off with his cloak. Then, he slapped her.  
  
"You f**king a**hole." James advanced further, stepping between Snape and Lily. After giving Snape a black eye and a crooked nose that looked more hooked than anything, James turned back to Lily, who he saw was crying.  
  
"Shhh, its ok." James held her, trying to comfort her.  
  
"It was horrible! There were all these people there, just standing around watching! And no one even thought of helping me, except you." Lily wailed, burying her face in his shoulder. James glared at all the watching students, all of whom felt exceptionally guilty. They dispersed quickly.  
  
"Come on, up to the tower." James led Lily to the common room. The Marauders were astonished to see James half-carrying Lily up to her dorm.  
  
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you? I mean, besides hitting you that one time." James asked, sitting down next to Lily on her bed.  
  
"No." Lily said quietly, she was quite relieved that James had intervened when he did. Otherwise. she couldn't even guess what Snape would have done to her. They sat in silence for awhile, James holding Lily's hand, gently rubbing it.  
  
"Lily, are you ok?" Tegan came bursting into the dorm. Lily nodded, but there was melancholy etched into her face.  
  
"I'll go now. I'll check up on you later." James kissed Lily on the forehead, and left.  
  
"Bye." Lily called softly.  
  
"I got him as soon as I could." Tegan took James' vacant seat next to Lily.  
  
"Thank you." Lily smiled gratefully, hugging Tegan.  
  
"Need to talk?" Tegan asked gently, knowing that you always felt better after spilling your guts to someone.  
  
"Yeah." Lily smiled again; Tegan was truly one of a kind.  
  
"So James, which is it? Lily or Tegan?" Sirius questioned as the Marauders made their way to dinner.  
  
"Lily." James sighed She meant so much to him, and seeing Snape hit her nearly blew his top.  
  
"What did you do to her? I mean, why was she crying?" Peter asked, stumbling to keep up with James' and Sirius' long strides.  
  
"Snape was mauling her, and I got him off. Gave him a black eye and a hooked nose on the way." James grinned at the thought.  
  
"That's my boy!" Sirius laughed, clapping James on the back.  
  
"Who would have thought, you and Lily Evans." Remus smiled, shaking his head. Now that was an odd pair. James shrugged, he didn't think it was so weird.  
  
"I never thought you'd be the first to go." Sirius commented as they sat down. Most of the girls in the hall were whispering and pointing in their direction.  
  
"Neither did I." James added as he piled food on his plate.  
  
"News certainly travels fast." Remus was the first to notice all the stares and whisperings in James' direction.  
  
"There was a crowd of students around Snape. Not one of them did anything but watch." James said bitterly.  
  
"How they could stand his body odor is beyond me." Sirius added, eyes flashing with laughter. Everyone in hearing radius laughed, for it was true, Snape had a bit of a showering problem. [winky]  
  
"So everyone was standing around them, watch Snape man-handle Lily?" Remus deduced. "Though that would be hard for him, since he isn't a man." He added, causing everyone who heard to laugh again.  
  
"Yeah. Students here are real idiots." James growled. He couldn't believe everyone was just standing there, watching! With some things, you can do that, but more often than not, you needed to get involved before someone got hurt. James had a strict code of ethics, though they were a lot different from everyone else's. He had a strong sense of chivalry, but no remorse, mercy, or fear. James was one of the scariest people when he was mad. When cornered, he didn't need his wand and could perform curses and such without it. James had a nasty temper too- only beating up Snape was his severely restrained reaction, and that was because Lily was there and he was head boy. Head boy.  
  
"Hey! I can fill out a report on Snape- with the suggestion of a punishment. Sweet. A good reason, finally." James realized, grinning.  
  
"That's cool. You get to suggest punishment? How about three moths of detention?" Peter spoke up. Peter was usually very quiet, and went with the flow.  
  
"Three is a bit high, I doubt they'd give that to him. One month may work." James decided.  
  
"She's here." Sirius whispered, grinning. There was an audible decrease in the noise as Lily and Tegan entered the hall. Lily had changed, and must have showered since her hair was wet. It hung in pretty, loose curls down her back. Her beautiful dark red hair reached her waist, and was usually slightly wavy. She was a short curvy sort of girl, the desire of many guys in the school. As she walked in, she gave James a small smile, then took her usual seat.  
  
"Aren't you gonna go sit with her?" Remus poked James in the side. "What? Oh, there's no room." Indeed, there was absolutely no room anywhere by Lily. She was surrounded by giggling girls who bombarded her as soon as she sat down.  
  
"Lily! I didn't know you going out with James!" Mandy squealed as soon as Lily sat in her seat.  
  
"Hmm. No one did, really." Lily remained impassive. Nothing was going to get her upset- she couldn't stand another emotional scene that day.  
  
"I just think its so wonderful! I mean you and James are perfect for each other! I was wondering when you two were going to hook up." Mandy chattered, picking at her food.  
  
"Right." Lily didn't say much during dinner, no matter how many questions were asked, or what Mandy said. Tegan stood by Lily's side, as silent support for her.  
  
"Hey babe. You want to go up to the tower?" James came up to her, causing another great hush throughout the hall. Every ear was straining to hear what was being said. James had watched Lily for awhile, and noticed that she was done. She was just sitting there, listening to those annoying girls.  
  
"Yeah." Lily looked up at him and smiled. She bid her friends goodbye and left with James. The noise level increased two fold when the doors shut behind them. Everyone was excitedly discussing Lily and James, well, everyone but Julie. Her eyes were narrowed and her thin lips were pursed. Her perfectly manicured nails were digging into the palms of her hands. If there was one person that Julie wanted revenge on, that would be Lily. She had gone and taken James, the one boy Julie had her eye on for more than a year.  
  
The weeks flew by for Lily and James, for they were truly happy together. You could always find them together somewhere, either talking or kissing. James was getting more comfortable with Lily's friends, since they decided to quit bugging him about various things. In fact, the girls were decent to him, for once in their years of schooling together. Lily didn't mid spending some time with the marauders, though the Marauders weren't always thrilled with her presence. They had to keep a civil, non-crude tongue around her; and Sirius wasn't allowed to smoke or drink when Lily was around. James could tell this bothered Lily, so he refrained from doing it unless he was with his friends, sneaking out or something. During this time, Julie let her feelings well up inside of her. Though Lily and James were complete opposites, everyone said they made the most cutest, perfect couple. One cold day in January, Julie simply couldn't take it anymore.  
  
Julie pushed her quill off her desk as James was walking by at the end of charms. Flitwick had already gone into his office, so now was time to put her plan in action. She thought that one kiss from her would be all it took for James to dump Lily, and date her. James bent down and handed the quill over with a charming smile.  
  
"Thanks." Julie cooed, kissing James. He immediately pushed her away. What the hell was wrong with this girl? Kissing him in front of everyone? Including his girlfriend too!  
  
"Julie Narnin, just who the f**k do you think you are?" Lily advanced on Julie, her eyes flashing dangerously. All the students knew Lily had to be mad beyond reasoning if she was cursing. James was relieved that Lily didn't blame him. He just got out of the way.  
  
"Umm, me?" Julie smiled sweetly, twirling a bit of her hair.  
  
"Don't give me that crap." Lily grabbed Julie by the collar and brought her to a standing position; Lily was a good three inches shorter that Julie.  
  
"Want to take this outside, [I]Evans[/I]?" Julie sneered, getting angry. Why wasn't James coming to her rescue? Was he going to let his pipsqueak of a girlfriend fight her?  
  
"You'll only lose." Lily waved her hand, making the desks stack themselves neatly against the wall. She was angry enough that she didn't need her wand, something only very powerful wizards and witches could do. Many of the spectators gasped in surprise, not many people could do accurate magic when they're angry and with a wand, but Lily could function fine [I]without[/I] her wand! Julie, not waiting for anything, popped Lily square on the nose, feeling something crunch beneath her fist. Lily wasn't fazed at all, her adrenaline level was high enough to keep her going. Lily was furious, and took her anger out on Julie, who wasn't able to get another hit out. Lily was pummeling Julie, giving her two black eyes, a broken tooth, and a cut lip. James had to physically pull Lily off of Julie before Lily killed her. Breathing hard and struggling against James, Lily still wasn't satisfied. Seeing no other option, James swept Lily off her feet and carried her out of the classroom; Lily still fighting with all her might to finish what she began with Julie. James carried Lily up to his dorm, where he gently laid her on his bed. By this time Lily's adrenaline level had dropped, leaving her with a sick feeling of weakness, and a throbbing pain in her nose. All she could do was cry, and James let her. Lily had been through a terrible mood swing, and James knew from his mother that those weren't pleasant. When Lily had calmed down, she asked for her wand. Wordlessly, James handed it over, and Lily charmed her nose back to its perfect self again.  
  
"Do you feel better?" James moved next to Lily on his bed.  
  
"Yeah." Lily's bottom lip was still trembling. James never wanted to hold her or kiss her as bad as he did now. Such helplessness in her was so hard for him to bear. Leaning over, James kissed Lily, slipping his arms around her. Lily, still feeling slightly forlorn, kissed him back, pulling him on top of her as she lay down.  
  
"Shh." Sirius whispered to the Ravenclaw 6th year, who was giggling uncontrollably. She stifled her giggles, but was still laughing silently; not believing her luck to be with THE Sirius Black at that moment.  
  
"Let me check first, make sure no one is in here." Sirius winked at Heather Crantall, the Ravenclaw.  
  
"Ok." She smiled sweetly, tossing her long, thick blonde hair over her shoulder, and batting her gorgeous sky blue eyes. Sirius opened the door to his dorm a crack, to do the usual check to make sure his roommates were gone. To his utmost surprise, the room was occupied. Lily and James were still there, in the same place, though in James' bed, not on it. Lily was sleeping peacefully in James' arms, while James seemed to be barely awake. Their clothes were scattered around the bed, like they were thrown, not taken off.  
  
"Who would have thought." Sirius grinned to himself. Lily and James were an odd couple, complete opposites. And Lily didn't seem like the type to fool around. Sirius shook his head.  
  
"Can we go in?" Heather asked quietly, trying unsuccessfully to see what was going on.  
  
"Nah. James is sleeping. Let's go somewhere else." Sirius led Heather away, who was still giggling happily.  
  
James and Lily were roused from their slumber an hour later, when Sirius returned, alone this time.  
  
"James." Sirius stood next to the bed, glad that the blanket covered Lily enough so to avoid an embarrassing scene.  
  
"What?" James snapped awake.  
  
"Have a good time?" Sirius asked, the humor apparent in his voice.  
  
"What? Oh, yeah." James actually blushed slightly. "Will you leave for about ten minutes? I gotta get Lily out of here." James sat up, leaving the blanket on the sleeping form that was Lily.  
  
"Sure. Later Prongs." Sirius exited the dorm, going down to the common room. Classes were supposed to end in a half-hour, and he wanted to make sure no one walked in on the two; it was just a thing that best friends would do for each other. It didn't matter much to Sirius that he wasn't in class, he was going to cut anyway.  
  
Five minutes later, Lily, in an overly large t-shirt of James', came down the boys' staircase carrying her clothes. She noticed Sirius, blushed darkly, and muttered hello as she went by him. She went up to her dorm and climbed into her own bed, and got ready to feign sickness when her friends asked where she had been all afternoon. When classes ended, Tegan came rushing into the dorm as soon as she could.  
  
"LILY! Where have you been?" Tegan demanded, seeing her friend in bed.  
  
"Sick." Lily rolled over and buried her face in her pillow.  
  
"And James took care of you." Tegan added sarcastically, noticing the shirt Lily was wearing.  
  
"Yep. He's real nice to me when I'm sick, unlike you." Lily pretended to pout over dramatically. Tegan let a giggle escape her.  
  
"Ok. Well, I don't want to know anyway." Tegan rolled her eyes and retrieved the notes she took for all the classes Lily missed, as well as the assignments Lily would need.  
  
"You don't." Lily smiled knowingly.  
  
"Well, oh sick one, here's your work. They expect you in the hospital wing or class tomorrow." Tegan dropped the pile on Lily.  
  
"Joy. Looks like I'll be in class tomorrow." Lily riffled through the pile. She figured it would take her about an hour or two to get it all done.  
  
"I better get started." Lily sighed, getting out a quill and beginning her assignments.  
  
"You really beat Julie up." Tegan mentioned, starting her own work as well.  
  
"I better have. She's a disgrace to the female population as a whole- muggle and witch alike." Lily grinned.  
  
"You seem happy about it. She's in the hospital wing and she looks real bad, though the injuries aren't. What did you do to fix your nose?" Tegan inquired, putting down her quill for a moment.  
  
"I charmed it back. Simple healing charm. Its in this book I read over the summer on magical first aid. Quite interesting." Lily chattered. She plowed through her work, finishing in roughly an hour and a half.  
  
That night, Sirius took Remus and James out drinking. They snuck out and slipped into a tunnel that was hidden beneath the Whomping Willow, a terribly violent tree that stood alone on the grounds of Hogwarts. The three were having a good time, though Remus wasn't drinking, or smoking for that matter.  
  
"So James, is Lily good?" Sirius smiled lopsidedly, laughing.  
  
"She's the best. Man, I just love her. Best thing that's ever happened to me." James answered semi-seriously, the drink and smoke inhibiting complete seriousness. He took another swig of beer.  
  
"Love her? Next thing we know you'll be getting married." Remus laughed. While he wasn't actually smoking, the second hand smoke was providing him with an adequate buzz.  
  
"Nah. I'm not getting married. Well, if the girl is pregnant, maybe. Depends how much I like her." James laughed.  
  
"Admit it Prongs, you're gonna marry Lily Evans. If not before graduation, because of your little bit of fun this afternoon." Sirius winked, opening his third can of beer in the last hour. They were in the Shrieking Shack. The run down, abandoned house was used by Remus when he had to transform. You see, Remus is a werewolf, and to protect the students of the school, Dumbledore had the Whomping Willow, a very violent tree, planted over the tunnel to the shack's entrance and Remus was escorted to the tunnel on a monthly basis. On the days when Remus was in human form, the Marauders frequently used the Shrieking Shack as their place to hang out, drink, and smoke.  
  
"Nah. She's not pregnant. One time ain't gonna make her pregnant." James rolled his bloodshot eyes.  
  
"That's all it takes, dipsh*t." It was Remus' turn to roll his eyes.  
  
"So? I mean, come on. Its me. Nothing bad happens to James Potter." James laughed, finishing off his second beer.  
  
"Just wait. You'll see. You'll see." Sirius grinned, on the verge of passing out from too much smoke and beer.  
  
"Damn. We'd better get back before Filch does his two am watch." Remus checked his watch.  
  
"Ok." James rose slowly and Sirius needed a hand up. They left the beer cans and the pot, they'd clean up some other time- the shack was only used and seen (on the inside) by the Marauders. The three off them made their way back up to the Gryffindor Tower, Remus and James supporting Sirius who could barely walk. Lily was waiting for James in the common room. Remus nodded and took Sirius up to their dorm, while James sat across from Lily, in a chair.  
  
"You've been smoking. And drinking." Lily was disappointed in him, for some strange reason. Tonight didn't seem like the right night to just go out and get drunk and stoned.  
  
"How'd you know?" James blinked a few times, trying to get a sharp image of Lily- he was seeing slightly double.  
  
"I can smell the smoke on you, and the beer too. And I can't miss your bloodshot eyes and the way you can't focus on me." Lily's lower lip trembled. She had thought James loved her enough to give that up, especially after what happened that afternoon. What if she ended up pregnant?  
  
"James. We need to talk. About us. If you want, this can wait until tomorrow night, when you'll hopefully be sober enough to understand." Lily managed calmly. The sight of him being wasted just broke her heart.  
  
"We can talk whenever you want." James smiled, he wasn't as half as drunk as he was acting. He could sober himself up enough to hold a semi- intelligent conversation with Lily.  
  
"Are you sure?" Lily asked hopefully. She really wanted to make sure both of them were on the same page and everything.  
  
"Anything for you." James pulled himself together. He focused and really tried to make this conversation stick in his head, it was obviously important to Lily.  
  
"James, I just wanted to know, what are we going to do? I mean, if I end up pregnant. Even if I don't, what is our relationship going to be like? I want things to be the same, but I don't think that's possible." Lily spoke clearly for James' sake, not talking as quick as she would have liked to.  
  
"If you get pregnant, we'll deal with that when it comes. As for us for the time being, we can still be the same. We're just closer." James took a minute to think before answering. When he finished, he was glad he had. Lily's worried face broke into a huge smile.  
  
"I love you. You know that, don't you?" Lily got up and sat in his lap, ruffling his perpetually messy hair.  
  
"I love you too." James smiled absently. He wasn't quite sure of what was going on- he just said the first thing that came to mind. Lily stopped dead. James just said he loved her. This was a major first for James- he had never told [I]anyone[/I] that he loved them, not even his mother. Not wanting to cause a scene, and thinking it may just be the beer in him talking, Lily just smiled and kissed him goodnight, going up to her dorm.  
  
The next morning James woke up late with a terrible hangover. He could only remember two things from last night: his conversation with Lily, and that he told her he loved her.  
  
[I]'Shit. Bloody hell.'[/I] James rubbed his throbbing temples. What was he going to do? Why did he have to have told her that? What if Lily did end up pregnant?  
  
There was a soft knock on the dorm door, sounding like a cannon to James and Sirius, who also had a bad hangover.  
  
"Come in." James called groggily. Lily opened the door, her bag at her side.  
  
"I'm leaving." Sirius stumbled out, thankfully he was still dressed- Remus sent him to bed, clothes and all. James saw who it was and paled slightly.  
  
"Hey, how do you feel?" Lily sat down on James' bed, setting her bag on the floor next to her.  
  
"Like shit." James groaned, sitting up.  
  
"I have some aspirin if you want it. And a charm I've been working on. It cures hangovers." Lily talked softly, but it sounded to James as if she was shouting.  
  
"Nice charm. You made it?" James smiled unconcernedly.  
  
"Yeah." Lily pulled out her wand and cast the charm. Instantly, James felt better.  
  
"Thanks." James kissed her cheek.  
  
"Want to go for a walk? I got some toast if you're hungry." Lily offered.  
  
"Sure." James got up and pulled some clothes on- he was only in his boxers before.  
  
"Let's go." The two of them left the tower, and began a long walk around the lake. About halfway around, when there was a lull in their conversation, James decided he should address what he said last night when he was totally wasted.  
  
"Lil, do you remember what I told you last night?" James tried to keep his cool- and it was working.  
  
"How could I forget? I understand if you didn't mean it. You weren't all there." Lily blushed slightly, and rushed the last bit.  
  
"I just wanted to say that I [I]did[/I] mean it, even if I 'wasn't all there' as you so kindly put it." James turned Lily to face him, putting his arms around her.  
  
"Really?" Lily's breath caught in her throat. This was almost like a dream come true for her. Someone who she was completely head over heels for loved her back.  
  
"Really." James murmured, kissing Lily deeply.  
  
A half hour later, when Lily said they had to get back inside before people would suspect things, James and Lily made their way to the tower. Lily sighed happily. This was perfect. James loved her. And Lily knew how hard it was for any guy, especially those with James' type of reputation, to tell even their family that they loved them, let alone a girlfriend.  
  
More weeks went by, James and Lily became closer than ever. Sometimes, if they were relaxed enough, they could tell what each other was thinking. They would lie together, thinking about how perfect their life was, and how they never wanted to leave Hogwarts. However, good things always come to an end- their graduation exams were upon them. Lily and James studied together and apart. They weren't as relaxed as before- these exams were too important to dismiss. Somehow, amidst studying, panic attacks, and piles of homework, Lily and James made time for each other. They went to each other to find solace, comfort and relaxation.  
  
Exams passed and there was a week of pure fun before the farewell ball for the 7th years and graduation. Two days before the ball, the unthinkable happened.  
  
"Lily? Are you ok?" Tegan popped her head inside the open door to the bathroom.  
  
"No!" Lily managed before getting violently ill in the toilet.  
  
"Oh!" Tegan rushed to her friend and held her hair back from her face.  
  
"Do you want to go to the nurse?" Tegan asked when Lily was done.  
  
"No. Please don't tell anyone." Lily was still really pale.  
  
"What's wrong?" Tegan softened her voice- she had to find out what was wrong. Tegan's worst fear was that Lily was bulimic, though that was pretty far-fetched for Lily. She ate everything that she wanted to, and didn't feel guilty or anything.  
  
"I'm-" Lily was cut off when she had to 'worship the porcelain god' again.  
  
"You're what?" Tegan soothed, holding Lily's hair again.  
  
"Pregnant." Lily blurted the word. She had figured it out yesterday, when she started throwing up and had missed her period.  
  
"Oh my god." Tegan turned pale, and looked almost as bad as Lily.  
  
"What am I going to do?" Lily began to cry- she was so scared.  
  
"Tell James." Tegan whispered. [I]'Oh Lil, how could you? Why didn't you listen to me?'[/I] Tegan wailed in her head.  
  
"I can't. I've tried. I can't get up the courage to tell him. You're the first person I've told." Tears rolled down Lily's face.  
  
"Shhh. You'll be fine. I'm sure you can tell James. It's not the end of the world. Its just the beginning for someone. Your baby." Tegan smiled, hugging Lily, who needed one badly. Her words slightly cheered Lily up.  
  
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Lily managed a watery smile.  
  
"My baby. That's so scary." Fresh tears came to Lily's eyes.  
  
"I know. But you have to tell James." Tegan said in a calming voice.  
  
"I do. I will. As soon as-" Lily turned back to the toilet, becoming ill.  
  
"As soon as you can." Tegan finished delicately, comforting Lily in her time of need.  
  
Ten minutes later Lily was cleaned up and looked like a million bucks- she had a healthy, happy glow about her.  
  
"James?" Lily knocked on his dorm door, pushing it open ever so slightly.  
  
"Yeah?" James went over and opened the door fully- he was alone in the dorm.  
  
"We need to talk." Lily went over to James' bed and sat down. James closed the door and sat next to her.  
  
"What's wrong?" James noticed how Lily was slightly shaking.  
  
"James- I'm pregnant." Lily cast her eyes to the ground, wishing he would say something.  
  
"Are you sure?" James' voice was hoarse.  
  
"Yes." Lily whispered.  
  
"This is great!" James' face broke into a huge grin.  
  
"A baby." James hugged his girlfriend. Lily was extremely surprised- she hadn't expected anything like this.  
  
"James? How can this be good? I'm not even 18 and I'm not married. Hell, I haven't even graduated from school yet!" Lily stood up, tears falling down her cheeks for the second time that day. James thought hard for a moment.  
  
"You don't have to be." James said, standing up.  
  
"Be what?" Lily's lower lip quivered.  
  
"Unmarried. Marry me, Lil. We can run away." James took her right hand and slipped off the ring he gave her. James slid it onto her left hand.  
  
"Are you sure?" Lily looked up at James- he didn't seem the type to get married.  
  
"Of course. I love you, don't I?" James grinned, taking her in his arms.  
  
"Let's run away." Lily laid her head on his chest, breathing a huge sigh of relief.  
  
"Sirius!" James came bounding into the common room, finding his best friend chatting up Mandy.  
  
"What?" Sirius was slightly peeved- he was very close to getting Mandy to go off for a while with him.  
  
"We're going out. Be ready in 5." James told him, then went up to Lily's dorm.  
  
"Are you ready?" James questioned, knocking on Lily's door.  
  
"Yeah." Lily pulled open the door. She was wearing a simple but beautiful white sundress.  
  
"Is Tegan coming?" James surveyed the room, finding it empty. "I couldn't find her." Lily was very disappointed- she had really wanted her best friend at her wedding.  
  
"We'll find her." James grinned and pulled out the Marauders' Map. Tapping it, the ink lines flowed across, giving the layout of Hogwarts, and also where all of the students were. James looked at all the stray dots.  
  
"She's with Remus- room 313, Charms corridor." James found her.  
  
"That classroom is empty." Lily's mouth fell open as she realized why they were there.  
  
"I think I can live without her for now." Lily decided quickly. She knew how much Tegan liked Remus, and wouldn't do a thing to jeopardize it.  
  
"Are you sure?" James asked, he thought that it was really important to Lily that her best friend be there.  
  
"Yeah." Lily said. She then noticed that the dots labeled [I]Remus Lupin[/I] and [I]Tegan Buelow[/I] had split apart and were heading in opposite directions. It looked like Tegan was on her way up to the tower.  
  
"We'll catch her." Lily pointed to the map.  
  
"Let's go then." James kissed Lily and led her to the common room. Sirius was waiting impatiently.  
  
"You're taking me on one of your dates?" Sirius rolled his eyes.  
  
"Nope. But trust us, you don't want to miss this." Lily giggled.  
  
"If you say so." Sirius drawled, following them out of the common room. They group headed down to the Great Hall, where they intercepted Tegan on the way. She was in a blissfully happy mood and agreed to go with them, even if she didn't know where they were going. As 7th year students, they got special privileges. One of them was that on vacations, they were allowed to go down to Hogsmeade when they pleased, between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm.  
  
"You're taking us to Hogsmeade?" Tegan asked, confused, as the group went into the Three Broomsticks.  
  
"Nope, we're just using their fire. Hey Rosie!" James called as he took floo powder out of his pocket.  
  
"Hey James. Just passing through today?" Rosemarta grinned.  
  
"Yeah." James answered and passed the floo powder to each of them.  
  
"Okay, we're going to Brighton Square. That's Ireland, just so you know." James explained. He knew of a little church there, and thought it would be one that Lily would absolutely adore. The four of them flooed to Brighton Square.  
  
"So, why are we hare of all places?" Tegan asked, walking out into the bright sunlight outside the inn that served as gateway to the muggle world.  
  
"Uh-" Lily looked at James who smiled.  
  
"You'll just have to wait and see." He said mysteriously. They walked down the wide, sunny street, until James stopped short in front of the church. It was a small picturesque stone building that James had visited one time when he was on vacation with his mother when he was nine.  
  
"Here." James took Lily's hand and Sirius and Tegan followed them in. Both of them had identical expressions of confusion on their faces. When Tegan and Sirius stepped into the church, their clothes changed to Sunday best, as did James' clothes too.  
  
"What the-" Sirius' eyes widened as he realized what was going on.  
  
"Who would have thought. You two are getting married aren't you?" Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. Tegan stood, dumbfounded.  
  
"Yes." Lily grinned and squeezed James' hand, looking up at him.  
  
"You are? Lily that's wonderful!" Tegan squealed when she found her voice.  
  
"May I help you?" a pleasant voice from behind them asked.  
  
"Yes. We'd like to be married." James turned around, along with Lily, and putting his arm around her.  
  
"How old are you?" The young pastor asked.  
  
"17." Lily answered.  
  
"Hmm. I think, yes, that's old enough. I'm Reverend David Bowmann." The reverend held out his hand to James and they shook hands.  
  
"Yes. I assume these are your witnesses?" Rev. Bowmann asked, referring to Tegan and Sirius.  
  
"Yes." James smiled  
  
"Names?" Rev. Bowmann questioned.  
  
"James Harold Potter and Lillian Marie Evans." Lily chirped.  
  
"Ok, let's get started, I guess." Rev. Bowmann smiled. It was beautiful to see true love so young. He could see it in the eyes of the couple.  
  
"We are gathered here today, to witness the binding of this young man and this young woman in holy matrimony." The pastor began his beautiful speech. Blah blah blah- let's skip to the good part.  
  
"Do you James Harold Potter, take Lillian Marie Evans as your lawful wedded wife? In sickness and in health? For better and for worse?"  
  
"I do." James smiled down at Lily.  
  
"And do you Lillian Marie Evans, do you take James Harold Potter to be your lawful wedded husband? In sickness and in health? For better and for worse?"  
  
"I do." Lily sighed dreamily- this was better than her wildest dreams.  
  
"With the power vested in me, and in the name of God, I now pronounce you man and wife." The reverend smiled. "You may now kiss the bride." James kissed Lily, both of them positively beaming.  
  
"Wah-hoo! Way to go James and Lily!" Sirius shouted as they exited the church, throwing rice on them with Tegan. Tegan was crying slightly.  
  
"That was so beautiful! And you look so gorgeous!" Tegan wailed as she hugged Lily. Clasped tightly in Lily's hand was her marriage certificate.  
  
"Mmm, well, [I]Mrs.[/I] Potter, I think we need to stop at Gringotts and put that in a safe. We can open our joint account later." James nuzzled Lily's neck.  
  
"I like the sound of that. Mrs. Potter. Mrs. Lily Potter." Lily sighed happily.  
  
"Me too." James grinned.  
  
"Well, we'll leave you two alone to go to Gringotts. We'll see you back at the school?" Tegan pulled on Sirius' sleeve.  
  
"Ok." Lily agreed, waving the two off. After seeing Sirius and Tegan off, Lily and James flooed to Diagon Alley.  
  
"Lily Evans. James Potter. How nice to see you two." The middle-aged bartender greeted them- he was missing a tooth or two.  
  
"Good to see you Tom." James returned.  
  
"It's not Evans anymore Tom. I'm now Mrs. Potter." Lily corrected him, grinning broadly.  
  
"Merlin's Beard! Well, may I be one of the first to congratulate you. I didn't even know you two were engaged." Tom came around from behind the bar, giving Lily a fatherly hug and James a handshake.  
  
"Well, it was kind of sudden." Lily smiled mischievously.  
  
"I don't doubt that." Tom laughed, returning to the bar to serve a customer that had just walked in.  
  
"Bye Tom!" Lily called as the happy couple exited the bar and accessed Diagon Alley. The two went to Gringotts and deposited the certificate in James' personal safe, and then they stopped at the Daily Prophet office. They quickly filled out an announcement form, so their marriage would be in tomorrow's paper. Lily and James then stopped at the post office and sent off an owl to each set of parents, telling them of their happiness and matrimony. Within a half-hour, Lily and James flooed to the Three Broomsticks. They made their way up to the school in due time.  
  
During the afternoon, Lily and James were laughing to themselves. No one noticed their absence, or even their new rings. Since many students don't read the paper, and those that did (even the staff) didn't read the marriage announcements. So it wasn't until the Farewell ball that anyone knew anything.  
  
"Are you ready?" Lily asked, giving herself one last check-over. As Head boy and girl they had to enter the ball last, and all the 7th years and their dates were already assembled in the Great Hall. It was almost 8 o'clock, when they were supposed to go in.  
  
"As ready as I'll ever be, Mrs. Potter." James grinned. He got a real kick out of calling Lily that, even though it was just in private. They figured they might get in trouble for going to Brighton Square and Diagon Alley without permission. The clock in the entrance hall chimed 8. Smiling, James and Lily pushed the doors open. As they did this, Sirius took it upon himself to enlighten the staff and students.  
  
"MAY I PRESENT TO YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME, MR. AND MRS. JAMES POTTER!" He shouted over the slight din. Everyone was dead silent afterwards. Lily blushed but James just kept on grinning. Like a jet engine, the noise level slowly revved back up. Many of the students were whispering to each other [I]'They're MARRIED?!'[/I] One student though, did not look happy at all. Severus Snape slowly clenched and unclenched his hands.  
  
"Oh, Sev, can you believe it? I [I]never[/I] would have thought they'd get [I]married[/I]!" Severus' date, a 6th year Slytherin named Gwen Dillion, whispered to him.  
  
"What? Oh yeah. Who would have thought." Severus may have brought another girl to the ball, but he still had feelings for Lily Evans, even if she was a filthy mudblood. [I]'But she isn't Evans isn't anymore now, is she? She's Mrs. Potter.[/I] A nasty voice inside his head sneered. Shaking his head, Severus turned his full attention to his date, who was actually quite pretty. A curvy girl of medium height and with soft brown hair, she was exactly what he needed to forget Lily.  
  
Throughout the ball, James and Lily had most of the students and all of the staff come up to congratulate them.  
  
"Well, James. Lily. It is wonderful to see you two so happy. May you both have the best of luck with your marriage and many children later on." The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, smiled warmly.  
  
"Maybe not so far off." Lily grinned, looking up at James. Professor Dumbledore smiled knowingly and nodded his head.  
  
"I'm sure as soon as the first one arrives his name will be on the list for his year immediately." Dumbledore chuckled. Bidding them goodbye, Dumbledore moved on to separate some students who were arguing.  
  
The dance passed like a dream for Lily. She was getting so many congratulations from everyone. Very few voiced the thoughts on everyone's mind- how the hell did Lily get James to marry her? Lily just smiled and ignored their rudeness. She and James had a wonderful time, dancing and talking.  
  
"Oh! I forgot my clutch!" Lily suddenly remembered when she and James were about halfway to the tower that night. They had stayed after everyone had left so they could clean up with a few simple spells.  
  
"You want me to wait?" James turned back.  
  
"No, you go on up to bed, I'll manage on my own." Lily kissed James goodnight and hurried back to the Great Hall. She was at the top of the magnificent staircase that led to the upper floors from the hall when she heard her name called.  
  
"Hello?" Lily turned around. Seeing no one, she turned back around and started down the stairs, slightly spooked.  
  
"You b***h." Julie's voice hissed, before Lily had the sensations of falling and pain.  
  
Around the corner, Heather Crantall stood wide-eyed in shock. Julie Narnin just pushed Lily down the stairs. Down the stairs.  
  
Julie, realizing how much trouble she would be in, fled the scene. She didn't even see the Ravenclaw standing with her mouth open in an adjoining hallway. As soon as Julie left, Heather regained her senses. The stairs were enough to kill someone if they fell down them.  
  
"Lily! Lily, are you ok?" Heather dashed down the stairs, finding Lily in a heap on the floor. She wasn't moving or responding at all. Bending over Lily, Heather assessed the unconscious girl's state.  
  
"Crap." Heather began panicking. What did her mother teach her? Heather's mother was an ER nurse in St. Mungo's Hospital. There was a charm.  
  
"[I]Stablio[/I]" Heather murmured the charm to stabilize a patient's condition for at least 15 minutes. Now, Heather had to get Lily to the hospital wing, and fast. Transfiguring a nearby chair into a stretcher, Lily was gently rolled onto it. Heather levitated it to the hospital wing as fast as she could.  
  
The first thing Lily was aware of was how much pain she was in. She ached all over. The second thing she was aware of, was that something was missing. Something important wasn't right.  
  
"Lily! Thank god you're all right" James was hovering worriedly over her. Lily tried to talk but couldn't manage it. It simply hurt too much.  
  
"Shh, don't try to talk." James sat down in the chair he occupied before. Tegan was in the chair on the other side of Lily's bed, her face tear- streaked and puffy. Seeing her friend was awake, Tegan slipped out quietly, knowing that James and Lily needed time alone together. Remus was waiting for Tegan as she left the hospital wing, crying into his shoulder.  
  
Lily looked at James in question. Something wasn't right- something was dreadfully wrong. James sensed what her question was.  
  
"Its dead." James choked out, it hurt him to even think of it. Their baby was dead. The one thing to make him want to do something about his future, besides Lily, was gone. All because some damn girl was jealous.  
  
"Who.what.happened." Lily whispered, each breath becoming agony for her.  
  
"Julie pushed you. A Ravenclaw-Heather, I think her name was- saw it and brought you here. She then went and got me." James' eyes and voice were filled with pain. Why would anyone want to hurt Lily, [I]his[/I] Lily? Or an innocent unborn baby, [I]his[/I] innocent, unborn baby? A monster that should be killed, that's what.  
  
Lily looked up at her husband, her eyes full of unsaid comfort. She knew exactly how much he had been hurt. James was hard to understand- there were so many different aspects that seem to clash, but come together to be the man she loved- and somehow Lily figured him out. The two of them sat in a heavy silence as they processed their unsettling thoughts.  
  
Lily was released from the hospital wing in time for Graduation. Julie, as she had been told, had been graduated early and sent off for a stint of a week in Azkaban for assault. Lily and James both gave speeches, Lily's had been written with help from Tegan. By the end of the ceremony, though she promised herself she wouldn't cry, Lily was tearing up.  
  
"Now," Albus Dumbledore peered over the top of his spectacles, from behind the podium he was standing at. He looked at each and every one of his students. He had taught them for seven years, refereed their fights, celebrated their joys, and punished their rule breaking. Now, it was time for them to leave.  
  
"You all are fully trained and educated witches and wizards. It has been a great, tremendous joy to teach you all. Together for seven years you have worked together: sorting out problems, handing in homework on time, pulling pranks," The headmaster's eyes sparkled as he looked fondly at the Marauders, who were sitting together, not fidigting for once. "Now, it is time for all of you to leave. Yes, it is time for you all to go out into the world and do great things- wherever life sends you. May happy times be in store for you all." Dumbledore stepped back from the podium, finishing his speech. There was an overwhelming amount of applause from the spectators- families and friends of the graduating students, and of course, the graduating students themselves. Professor McGonagall stepped up to the podium.  
  
"As I call your name, come up to the podium to receive your diploma." She said clearly then cleared her throat. She went down the list of students for the year. When everyone hap received their diploma and had lined up around the edge of the Great Hall, where the ceremony was taking place, McGonagall smiled, and another round of enthusiastic applause ensued.  
  
"Well, here we are." James smiled, getting off the Hogwarts Express for the very last time.  
  
"Yes, here we are." Lily grinned back. They had the world waiting for them- their future was so bright and promising.  
  
"Shall we go to Diagon Alley, and floo to our vacation spot?" James asked, shrinking their trunks and placing them in his pocket.  
  
"Yes, lets." Lily sighed happily. James had made arrangements with his parents to stay in their vacation home on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea for Lily and James' honeymoon. They would be there for two weeks, while the apartment they would be renting is cleared out and cleaned. Amazingly enough, the perfect apartment was advertised in the Daily Prophet, and James owled about it right away. And James had a job interview at the Ministry of Magic for a position in Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, which was the best job they were offering at the time. There were plenty of opportunities for James to be promoted in the future, so things seemed pretty much perfect for James and Lily.  
  
"No, you can't go in yet." James laughed, walking up behind Lily on the path leading to the house.  
  
"Why not?" Lily pretended to pout.  
  
"Because I have to carry you over, that's why. Its good luck too." James put his arms around her.  
  
"If you must." Lily joked, letting James sweep her off her feet. He opened the door and carried her across the threshold of the house.  
  
"Wee!" Lily giggled as James spun her around. He gently set her down.  
  
"This place is marvelous!" Lily looked in awe at the quaint cottage at the sea. The air smelled salty and felt cool and moist on her skin. There was a slight breeze playing with her hair as she looked at the paintings that decorated the room. The furniture looked well-worn and comfortable, and the fireplace was of brick.  
  
"I thought you'd like it." James murmured in her ear.  
  
Lily and James' honeymoon went by quickly, too quickly in their views. But, they did have to start a life, so after two weeks, they flooed to their new apartment in London.  
  
"I can't wait to decorate this place!" Lily squealed as she walked about their four room flat. The whole place was very roomy, even the bathroom. They had a nice living area, a kitchen area with enough room for an informal eating area, a bedroom and, of course, a bathroom. For now, James had rented furniture, until they could purchase their own. A knock on the door startled their thoughts.  
  
"Yes?" James pulled open the door and was facing two ecstatic mothers.  
  
"James!" His own mother pulled him into a hug, while Lily's mother rushed over to her.  
  
"Sweetie!" After receiving bone-crushing hugs, James and Lily had the mothers sit down and conjured them something to eat.  
  
"Well, we must say, this did come as a surprise to both of us." James mother, Wendellin, commented when everyone was comfortable.  
  
"It was. Luckily enough, the school sends out owl addresses for students enrolled. I was able to contact Mrs. Potter. I wanted to know more about the man my Lily fell in love with." Lily's mother, Sandra, added. Lily and James glanced at each other.  
  
"It was a bit sudden, but we're happy. James starts at the Ministry tomorrow." Lily smiled and took James' hand, for he was sitting next to her on the couch.  
  
"Oh? What department?" Sandra wanted to know. By the look on Wedellin's face, you could tell that James hadn't said a word about joining the Ministry to her.  
  
"Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Very boring, but the pay is ok, as long as you don't have oodles of kids. Plus there's always room for promotion." James explained, a note of pride in his voice.  
  
"I'm just so proud of you." Wendellin smiled at her son. She had been so afraid he'd take his bad habits too far and would never get a job and would still be living at home when he was thirty. Wendellin had nearly fainted when she received the owl, telling her of their marriage. She was so relieved about the marriage, she forgot to be miffed about not being there. It was enough to know her son would do something with his life than 'play'.  
  
"Thanks mum." James said, embarrassed.  
  
"Well, why don't I give you the grand tour?" Lily stood up, wanting to break the odd tension that was about to settle on the group.  
  
"Yes, that would be wonderful." Wendellin and Sandra agreed. Lily showed them into each room, then told them of what she hoped to do, decorating- wise with them. When Wendellin and Sandra finally left, it was about 5:30 pm.  
  
"Would you like to go out for dinner?" James asked, as soon as they shut the door.  
  
"Yes, that would be perfect." Lily and James ended up eating a quiet meal at the Leaky Cauldron after opening their joint account and canceling their separate accounts. The next day, Lily got up early and conjured some breakfast. She was planning her day in her head when James stumbled into the kitchen, clearly unhappy that he had to be awake this early.  
  
"Coffee?" James smiled gratefully when he sat down. He gulped it down and attacked his breakfast. He finished quickly and got ready for work, dashing out the door so he wouldn't be late. As soon as James was gone, Lily set to work. She went out in search of the nearest grocery store. There she bought food and cleaning items. She made her way back to the apartment and set to work.  
  
By lunch time, Lily had given the whole apartment a thorough cleaning. She made herself a sandwich and picked up the morning paper- the Daily Prophet, of course. Lily scanned the help wanted section, and found several spots appealing to her. Lily figured she wouldn't have a lot to do all day, so she should get a part time job. So far, a job opening for a Library in Diagon Alley looked best. Lily searched her mind an couldn't remember a library being in Diagon alley; she decided to ask James when he came home that night. Lily went out in the afternoon, looking for places she need- a department store, some clothes shops, and other little places. She was back in the apartment by 5:00 p.m. so she could cook dinner. Lily wanted to surprise James, because he probably didn't know she could cook. Lily loved to cook- whenever she was at home, that was, before she got married, Lily would cook something almost everyday. Lily thought she would burst with laughter when James came in the door that night and found her finishing cooking dinner, which he was told would be ready in five minutes. James' jaw practically hit the floor when he saw his wife, frilly apron and all, in the kitchen bustling about.  
  
"What are you wearing?" James asked, sitting at the table, as Lily set a plate in front of him.  
  
"An apron, the only one I could find at the department store. I'm going to try and look for another." Lily smiled.  
  
"Really? It looks nice in here. So, what did you do all day?" James asked.  
  
"I cleaned and went out, looking for the grocery store and some other places. I think I may go furniture shopping tomorrow." Lily answered. "What did you do?"  
  
"I met Arthur Weasley, he was a few years above us- don't quite remember though. Has a few kids- Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and another on the way. I think Fred and George are the twins, and they may be as bad as the Marauders when they're older. All of them went to work with Arthur today- his wife needed the day off. Then again, I can't blame her. Percy is a momma's boy, while Bill is relaxed, so is Charlie. But Charlie is obsessed with Quidditch, so he was my shadow all day once he found out I played in school." James talked about the young boys. Lily could tell it was one of his desires to be a father someday.  
  
"James, when do you want to have kids?" Lily cut him off mid-sentence.  
  
"I don't care, as long as you're happy and willing to- I'm not the one who will be taking care of it all day." James said seriously, hoping Lily would want to have kids- he wouldn't force her to if she didn't want any.  
  
"Well, I have to say now, I don't want tons of kids, but one or two would be nice." Lily announced.  
  
"I can't wait until our first. According to Potter family lore, the first child is always a boy, and looks exactly like his father except for his eyes. Every Potter male has his mother's eyes." James placed his hand over Lily's.  
  
"I can't wait either." Lily smiled, happy that things were going so perfectly for them. She gave up the idea of getting a job, she knew if they had a child that she would want to stay with it and take care of it. Instead, Lily contented herself with looking for a house in the real estate ads, both muggle and magical, dreaming of a tidy home that would someday be hers.  
  
The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. James went out with his friends at least once a month, but gave up smoking and heavy drinking. Tegan visited Lily often, along with Mandy. The air turned cold and before everyone knew it, it was October. One day, James got up to find Lily becoming violently ill in the bathroom.  
  
"Oh, babe, are you alright." James helped her to the bed when she was done.  
  
"Yes." Lily looked up at James with a bright grin on her face that astonished him.  
  
"I'm pregnant, James, and that just confirmed it for me." Lily hugged her husband tightly.  
  
"Really? Lily, this is great! But are you sure you'll be alright all alone?" James worried, he didn't want anything to happen to her.  
  
"I'll be fine, but if it makes you feel better, I'll invite Tegan over for the day. Hell, lets have the Marauders over for dinner." Lily was in such an insanely happy mood she was ready to do a million things a minute.  
  
"Woah, slow down there." James laughed. "We don't need you tiring yourself out."  
  
"I'm fine now. just be prepared for the next week, at least, I'll be sick in the morning." Lily hugged James again and sent him out the door to work. Lily owled Sirius, Remus and Peter, telling them all that they were invited to dinner. Just for fun, Lily also invited Tegan, since she was dating Remus now and what fun would Lily have if her best friend was there?  
  
Tegan flooed over as soon as she received her owl, which was about 9 o'clock. The two of them spent the day giggling, cleaning and cooking- for they knew that all four of the Marauders had huge appetites. Tegan was so happy for Lily that she nearly started crying when Lily told her she was pregnant. Promptly at 5:30, the Marauders showed up, along with James five minutes later. The six of them spent the evening congratulating James and Lily, laughing, and joking.  
  
Six months later, Lily and James were going about their usual routine. Lily was picking out furniture for their new home, which they would be moving into in the next week. She was having a ball picking out miscellaneous items to decorate her new house in Godric's Hallow. James was working a zillion hours at the ministry, especially since Voldemort was running rampart, striking fear into every heart when just his name was mentioned. It was quite common for wizards to refer to him as You-Know-Who. Lily had been informed, via her parents, that her sister Petunia was getting married next year, a few months after Petunia's baby was to be born. Needless to say, Lily had her fair share of snickering when she was told this. Petunia had cut off all relations when she heard that Lily married James, and also that her baby sister had been pregnant but lost the child. Lily wanted dearly to call Petunia up and shout [I]'I told you so!'[/I]. James was just about to leave for work when an unexpected phone call came. None of their friends used the phone, it was mostly for Lily's use, and then it was mainly used when Lily talked to her parents.  
  
"Hello?" Lily answered it on the second ring, like always. James, being curious as to who would be calling this early, hung back for a second.  
  
[Smaller]"Is this the residence of Mr. James Potter?"[/Smaller] A faraway, unemotional voice asked.  
  
"Yes it is." Lily answered dryly, thinking it was a solicitor call.  
  
[Smaller]"Are you his wife?"[/Smaller] The voice asked. "Yes." Lily answered tartly this time.  
  
[Smaller ]"It is my sincerest regret to inform you that the elder Mr. and Mrs. Charles Potter are reported missing, assumed dead. Their cruise ship sunk off the coast of Spain."[/Smaller] The voice, void of emotion until now, cracked slightly.  
  
"No." Lily cried softly, turning towards her husband.  
  
"Lily? What's wrong?" James asked quietly as he took the phone from her.  
  
"This is Mr. Potter, what, may I ask, is going on?" James' voice boomed into the mouth piece.  
  
[Smaller] "Your parents, sir, were on the cruise ship, La Princessa. It sunk at approximately 4:15 this morning. Your parents were not among those on the life boats." [/Smaller] The voice explained gently.  
  
"Thank you for informing me." James' voice had a hallow, dead sound to it as he hung up the phone.  
  
James refused to go to work that day, though Lily couldn't blame him. He did drag himself to work the next day, and for the next week. It didn't affect Lily as much, even though she had met James' parents on one or two occasions- Lily just dealt with her grief by thinking about her baby. The week after they received that unfortunate phone call, Lily arranged an memorial service for James' parents at the church they had attended while they were alive. The beautiful, moving service brought tears to practically everyone's eyes, except James. He remained a cold statue throughout it, responding only somewhat to his wife, but no one else. James may have had his disagreements with his parents, but he never, not once, wished harm on them. And it hurt him all the more to know that they would never hold his son, and that he would never truly make peace with his father.  
  
The next few weeks were especially hard for James, he was having a hard time getting over his parents' deaths. The only time he was truly happy, was sitting at home with Lily, feeling their baby kick and squirm inside Lily. Nothing made him happier than to think of his baby. Both he and Lily agreed to keep their baby's gender a secret, thinking it would be a pleasant surprise at the end. They thought about names long and hard, coming up with Harry, if it was a boy, and Gwen, if it was a girl. With a week until Lily's due date, Tegan took it upon herself to throw Lily a baby shower.  
  
"Lily, what do you want, a boy or a girl?" Mandy asked excitedly, fingering her cup of coffee. A whole group of woman: many of Lily's childhood friends, mother's friends, and school friends were gathered in Lily's living room in Godric's Hallow, the neighborhood she and James lived in.  
  
"I'm hoping for a boy first, then maybe our second will be a girl." Lily grinned, thoroughly elated that her baby was going to be born soon- not only did she want to get rid of the extra baggage, but she couldn't wait to hold it in her arms for the first time, and raise her baby in general.  
  
"How many in all, Lily?" Mrs. Goulhan, one of Lily's mother's friends inquired.  
  
"We want two." Lily was all smiles.  
  
"Lily, why don't you open the gifts?" Tegan suggested, moving a large pile towards her friend.  
  
"Ok, why not." Lily laughed and began opening the baby gifts. She got several necessities that she hadn't already bought. Several people who couldn't come sent a card with money along. Before long, everybody had gone home, except Tegan who was helping Lily clean up.  
  
"Thank you so much." Lily thanked her friend tiredly as she sank onto her couch.  
  
"It was no problem. After all, you're having baby. A baby." Tegan sighed dreamily.  
  
"I can't wait for it to come, I would like to see my feet again someday!" Lily joked, but her laughter was soon cut off.  
  
"Lily, what's wrong?" Tegan asked, concerned.  
  
"Just feels like the baby wants out. either that or he's practicing quidditch." Lily winced as the pain shot up her spine again.  
  
"Yeah, I think it wants out." Lily smiled weakly, as Tegan nearly burst with excitement.  
  
"Oh my god Lily, what are we supposed to do? Ok Tegan, just calm down. Lily, do we need to go to the hospital?" Even as she asked, it sounded stupid, and both of them knew it.  
  
"One would think." Lily laughed slightly before being cut off in another bout of pain.  
  
"Right then. St. Mungo's or. where were you planning on going?" Tegan was a little antsy, she wasn't sure what to do at all.  
  
"That's fine. Why don't we aparate?" Lily decided, standing up.  
  
"Could you do that?" Tegan was apprehensive.  
  
"Why not. My wand please? There should be a overnight bag in my room, all ready packed." Lily's words became strained as more pain consumed her. Tegan rushed around, got what was needed and the two women, after Lily was able to keep her concentration just long enough, aparated to the lobby of St. Mungo's Hostpial.  
  
"Let's get you checked in, then we'll owl James." Tegan took charge and ushered Lily to the front desk for directions. After being carted to the maternity ward and admitted as a patient to the hospital, Lily was settled into soft bed, waiting for the doctors to come and the pain to worsen.  
  
"I'm gonna go get James, ok? I think it will be faster. Be back ASAP, ok?" Tegan confirmed before disaparating to the front lobby of the Ministry of Magic building. Many building had charms so that you could only aparate into the front lobby of the building, but you could disaparate from anywhere on site.  
  
"May I help you?" The secretary at the front desk asked snottily.  
  
"Yes, Is Mr. Potter in his office? Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department." Tegan asked hurriedly.  
  
"Mr. Potter is busy right now. Do you have an appointment?" The secretary smirked.  
  
"No, but-" Tegan began but was cut off.  
  
"Well, miss, you're going to have to make an appointment, the earliest I have is. Wednesday." The secretary flipped through a day-timer calendar neatly marked 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts'  
  
"Look, I have to talk to James now. Is he in?" Tegan lost the nice tone to her voice.  
  
"You need an appointment."  
  
"His wife is having their baby! I don't think it has an appointment. Now," Tegan paused for a moment and adopted an sickly sweet tone in her voice, "is Mr. Potter in his office?"  
  
"Its down the hall and to your right." The secretary said dully.  
  
"Thank you." Tegan rolled her eyes and hurried to James' office. She knocked once, then a 'come in' resounded from within. She opened the door. James and a tall thin man with bright red hair were deep in conversation.  
  
"Ah, Tegan, how are you? Can we help you?" James stood up.  
  
"Lily's at St. Mungo's. Baby is on its way." Tegan blurted.  
  
"Really? Looks like I'll be leaving now then, Arthur, can you handle it?" James was rushing about with an ecstatic grin on his face.  
  
"Sure, James. Don't forget you keys though!" Arthur Weasley called down the hall at James who sheepishly went back and took them.  
  
"Don't worry about missing anything. For our first kid, my wife was in labor for 13 hours. You won't miss a thing except a lot of screaming and name calling. Be prepared." Arthur gave James a pat on the back and James rushed out, Tegan following him. The quickly flooed to the hospital lobby and practically ran up the stairs because 'the elevators were too slow' according to James.  
  
"Lily." James walked into her room with a bouquet of roses that Tegan made him think of while they were in the lobby. Tegan had stayed down in the lobby to owl the rest of the Marauders, and to give James and Lily some time alone together.  
  
"James! Oh thank goodness you're here. I was getting lonely." Lily smiled from her bed gratefully, and her smile broadened when he pulled the flowers out from behind him.  
  
"To my sweet wife, and to my soon to be born child." James leaned over Lily and kissed her.  
  
"Oh, thank you. We appreciate it." Lily had taken to referring to herself as 'we', so that the baby would be included too.  
  
"Does it hurt a lot?" James asked as Lily's face contorted itself with pain.  
  
"Yeah. But hopefully it will be over in an hour or two, right?" Lily looked so hopeful that James just agreed with her, not wanting to tell her that Arthur Weasley's wife was in labor for 13 hours.  
  
"The doctors came by, and said they'd be checking up every hour, and to use my very cool call button to buzz them if the pain gets worse." Lily chatted, glad that James was there with her.  
  
After seven hours of screaming, name calling, and intense pain on Lily's part, Harry James Potter was born. Lily was extremely glad that all of it was over. She and James were alone in her room with Harry, looking at their child for the first time.  
  
"He's wonderful." Lily whispered as Harry let out a baby yawn. She was holding him in her arms, and suddenly she felt very tired. Through out labor, Lily never once felt tired, all she could feel was pain, but now all she wanted was to stay awake when she needed sleep. Lily wanted to watch Harry forever and ever, watching him grow up, go off to Hogwarts, his first date, his wedding. Lily saw endless possibilities for Harry, and each one seemed better than the first.  
  
"Hey Harry. I think your mummy is asleep." James watched as Lily had fallen asleep with Harry in her arms. He gently lifted Harry out of Lily's arms, cradling him with utmost care. James just stood there, looking at Harry with awe. Looking at Harry's tiny hands, his tiny feet, his already messy black hair, and when his eyes opened briefly, amazing green eyes.  
  
"James? Lily?" Sirius black knocked softly on the door, coming in.  
  
"Shh, Lily's sleeping." James tore his eyes away from his sleeping son.  
  
"That little Harry?" Sirius grinned and walked over to the pair.  
  
"Yeah. He's perfect." James looked back at his son with the same expression of awe he had been wearing since Harry was born.  
  
"Looks like Lily's gonna be out for awhile. I guess I'll keep people out of the room for now- though everyone is anxious. Hell, Remus, Peter, Tegan, Mandy, Lily's parents and what seems like everyone under the sun are waiting to see this baby. Can I take a picture for them?" Sirius grinned and held up a muggle Polaroid camera.  
  
"Of course." James held up Harry and Sirius took a picture. The flash woke Lily up, but not Harry.  
  
"James?" Lily yawn, aching all over.  
  
"What is it?" James was immediately at his wife's bedside.  
  
"Can I hold Harry again?" Lily asked sleepily, smiling innocently up at him. James chuckled and handed over Harry, who didn't stir. "Hey Sirius. How are you?" lily asked in a tired voiced, noticing him.  
  
"Just dandy. Can I take a picture for everyone waiting to see little Harry? Your parents sent me in with this." Sirius held up the Polaroid camera that Lily recognized.  
  
"Of course." Sirius took a picture of just Lily and Harry, then James, Lily and Harry.  
  
"Thanks, this should keep them satisfied until you're ready for visitors and such." Sirius grinned as he walked out the door, pulling out his wand to duplicate the pictures.  
  
"I can't believe he's finally here." Lily smiled down at her son.  
  
The next few weeks flew by for the new Potter family, everything seemed to be going perfectly. Then, as life would have it, tragedy stuck the Potters again. Lily had been informed through her mother that her sister, Petunia, who refused to speak to Lily anymore, was to be married that night. Needless to say, Lily was not invited to her sister's wedding, no matter how much Mr. and Mts. Evans pleaded. Lily was bundling up Harry for a family trip to the park when an owl swooped through their kitchen window.  
  
"James! There's a letter! Can you open it? I'm a bit busy right now!" Lily called to her husband, who was currently in the living room reading the Daily Prophet.  
  
"Coming." James folded up the paper and retrieved the letter from the owl, which bore the Hogwarts crest on its beak.  
  
"Its from Hogwarts. Are you planning to teach and not tell me?" James joked as he opened the envelope and removed a sheet of parchment. Lily laughed and continued to button baby Harry into his coat.  
  
"Oh my." James quickly read the short letter.  
  
"What?" Lily finished getting Harry ready, and set him in the stroller, walking up behind her husband and reading the note over his shoulder.  
  
"Oh no." Lily's bottom lip trembled and a tear slid down her cheek. Her entire family was dead- relatives, family friends- all of them dead. Well, except Petunia and her family.  
  
"How?" Lily asked, not wanting to read anymore of the terrible note.  
  
"It says that Voldemort attacked the reception of your sister's wedding. She, her new husband and child were late because their driver got lost. Oh baby." James set the letter on the table and held his sobbing wife. Harry gurgled from his stroller, obviously confused.  
  
"Its ok Harry. I think we're gonna stay home." Lily gave her son a watery smile, to which Harry giggled.  
  
"How about I take Harry out, and you get some rest. You look beat." James offered.  
  
"Thank you." Lily kissed her husband on the cheek, grateful that he knew she'd rather be alone right then. James swooped down on Harry, making him giggle.  
  
"Come on little man, we're gonna go out and have some fun." James strolled out and aparated to the Diagon Alley.  
  
"What do you say to finding mommy a present to make her feel better?" James asked Harry, getting some gurgles in return.  
  
"Hey James!" James heard a voice behind him and saw a few familiar faces. It looked as though a bunch of people from the quidditch teams in Hogwarts had gotten together for a drink.  
  
"Hey buddy, who's the kid?" John Brock waved James over to a table outside one of the many cafes in Diagon Alley.  
  
"This is Harry." James proudly showed him off.  
  
"I'd ask if he was yours, but that would be a dumb question. I mean, look at that family resemblance." Another of Gryffindor's quidditch players, Kirk Kirby, joked.  
  
"Yeah, but he has Lily's eyes." James grinned as Harry looked about him happily.  
  
"Looks like you've got it made. Job at the ministry, wife, kid- yep, James has everything." John laughed.  
  
"We're still trying to figure out what to do now that we've graduated."  
  
"Ministry is always looking for people." James suggested. "Actually, I'm getting promoted so there's a easy spot in Misuse of Muggle Artifact's Department. Very boring."  
  
"Promoted? Where are you now?"  
  
"International Cooperation- I'm assistant to the Head of the Department." James announced.  
  
"You definitely have it made. Geeze, your life is pretty much perfect!" The quidditch players laughed.  
  
"Ours is nothing compared to yours. Now that they've suspended quidditch, we don't know what to do." Kirk sighed. James remembered hearing about that, the ministry suspended quidditch for the time being, as large crowds were apt to draw Voldemort's attention.  
  
"Well, I have to get going, me and Harry are going to buy a present for his mommy. Lily isn't feeling too good." James waved good bye, shaking hands with several of his former teammates and opponents.  
  
"Man, he sure has changed. If he didn't look the same, I never would have guessed that was James Potter." John shook his head, watching James disappear with Harry into a shop.  
  
"Hmm, Harry, what to get for mommy?" James asked his infant son as they looked around in a frou-frou shop. Harry gurgled in reply as they went past some shelves of picture frames. James looked at his son quizzically.  
  
"By gosh, Harry, I think you're right." James grinned and went over to the photo frames. Lily would love a nice frame with a picture of her parents in it. And didn't he have to pick up pictures at the photography shop down the street? James was pretty sure there was a recent picture of Lily's parents holding harry on that roll. James picked out a nice silver frame that had a Celtic knot border engraved on it.  
  
"Perfecto!" James told Harry and they went to the front to purchase it. A half hour later they arrived at their home in Godric's Hallow, bearing a bouquet of flowers and the wrapped gift for Lily.  
  
"Honey, I'm home!" James called as he stepped in the back door, as he always did, since it usually made Lily laugh.  
  
"Hi." Lily came to the door to the kitchen, her eyes red and swollen.  
  
"Aww, baby." James put Harry down, in his playpen, and went to his wife and gave her a hug.  
  
"Me and Harry got you something to make you feel better." James smiled, and went over to the back door, picking up the flowers and gift he left on the back step. Lily's eyes lit up when he presented them to her, thinking how lucky she was to have such a thoughtful husband.  
  
"These are beautiful, James." Lily smelled the flowers as she put them in a vase.  
  
"There's something else too." James handed her the gift.  
  
"What is it?" Lily smiled slightly, and unwrapped it. When she saw it, she started crying again. James looked puzzled. He though his gift would make her happy, not sad.  
  
"James, this is wonderful, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me." Lily hugged her relieved husband and kissed him. Harry giggled from his playpen.  
  
"And you too Harry!" Lily laughed, going over and picking up her baby boy.  
  
"He helped me pick it out. I never would have even stop to look at the frames unless he had gurgled." James stood next to Lily, admiring their son, which was common for him to do.  
  
"Yes, what a smart little boy we have." Lily agreed, as Harry let out a baby yawn.  
  
The days began to fly by, and Lily and James's pain of losing their families lessened. Before anyone knew it, Harry's first birthday was upon them.  
  
"Hey Harry!" James came into Harry's room that morning, finding his son standing in his crib, ready to go.  
  
"Ank! Ank!" Harry cried, throwing his little arms out. "Harry ank!" "No Harry, we can't pull a prank today. Today is your birthday." James smiled, picking up his little boy.  
  
"No ank?" Harry's smile faded.  
  
"No prank. But Harry gets presents today. Presents." James pronounced the word slowly, so Harry would understand.  
  
"persents?" Harry asked.  
  
"Presents." James nodded.  
  
"PERSENTS!" Harry cried happily, burying his head in his dad's shoulder.  
  
"Yes Harry, presents." James laughed, carrying Harry down into the kitchen.  
  
"How's my little Harry today? Who is one whole year old!" Lily took Harry from James, and placed him in his high chair.  
  
"Harry persents." Harry banged his little hands on the tray.  
  
"Not now. Harry has to eat now." Lily laughed and put some chopped fruit onto Harry's tray. He ate greedily.  
  
"Slow down tiger!" James laughed, ruffling his son's messy hair; Harry grinned up at him, showing off his two teeth- the bottom front ones. Harry truly was a cute boy; you could tell he would be a heart breaker when he grew up, especially if he grew up around James. There was a knock on the back door.  
  
"Come in!" Lily called, setting a large breakfast on the table, enough for six grown men.  
  
"Hey James, hi Lily. Hey buddy!" Sirius came in the back door, giving Lily a hug (they had become close friends over the past year and a half) James a handshake, and ruffling Harry's hair.  
  
"Looks more like his dad everyday. Wouldn't be surprised if you wake up one morning and find that his eyes went blue." Sirius laughed, sitting at the table.  
  
"Uncie Siri!" Harry laughed and banged on his try, sending bits of fruit through the air.  
  
"Hey buddy." Sirius laughed as Lily gave James and him large mugs of coffee and a plate each.  
  
"Eat up, Remus and Peter should be here soon." As Lily spoke, Remus and Peter walked in their back door.  
  
"Speak of the devil!" Lily laughed and set them at the table. Peter looked more nervous than usual, and Lily briefly wondered what was wrong this time. Peter was always getting nervous about something.  
  
The marauders frequently came over for breakfast, and today's topic of discussion was about Hogwarts.  
  
"You know what, I really miss Hogwarts. I always figured that I'd never miss the castle when I had to leave." Sirius said thoughtfully. He had really turned around, just like James, once they got out of Hogwarts. One of the reasons was because his parents kicked him out after a few weeks, telling him to get a job. So, Sirius applied at the ministry, got rid of his nose ring and dread locks, and actually grew a goatee. Sirius looked quite handsome now, and Lily never failed to tell him that he should have no problem getting a steady girlfriend, if he'd just try, not to mention getting rid of that horrid motorcycle he loved.  
  
"You just miss all the girls there that thought you were god." Lily smirked, causing them all to laugh.  
  
"Well, yeah, but I actually miss going to classes, pulling pranks in the hall. Hell-" Lily shot Sirius a evil glare. "err, heck, I miss showing up Lucius and Snape. I wonder what they're up to now." Sirius said thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder how Dumbledore's doing, with all of this Voldemort stuff." It escaped James' notice that Peter flinched severely when the name was said. The Marauders and Lily were the last few people who had no fear of saying that name. Well, Peter was always scared, so he didn't count. Voldemort was gaining power, and his followers were killing people left, right, and sideways. No one joked about the crazy wizard who had his sights set on conquering the world. His reign of terror was more powerful than ever, and Hogwarts seemed like the only safe place anymore. He had silently ruled the world with fear for twelve years, though the students in Hogwarts weren't really effected by it. Maybe it was because Dumbledore was the only person Voldemort feared anymore, or perhaps that it was that the students were too close to Dumbledore for the risk of converting them into his minions.  
  
"He's probably holding out, as usual. He's been doing it for twelve years." Lily reminded him.  
  
"I keep on forgetting that. Voldemort never seemed real when we were in Hogwarts. We heard about people dying, but it never really registered." Remus pondered.  
  
"We were too wrapped up in our own lives." James added.  
  
"Too true." Lily giggled, getting herself a cup of coffee and sitting at the table.  
  
"I must say, the next generation is going to be petrified of him, its showing up. When I bring Harry to his play group, all of the mothers are fidgety and worried. When some of the older kids are yelled at, their mothers go off the deep end and start yelling about how they'd bring Voldemort after their families." Lily said sadly.  
  
"Its too bad. Though Harry will never be afraid of anybody. We'll make sure of that." James grinned.  
  
"A Marauder cannot be afraid of anyone." Sirius agreed.  
  
"Oh god, you're already considering him a marauder?" Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"Of course! He's the first of the second generation of Marauders." Sirius piped up.  
  
"The full next generation won't be decided until Harry gets on the train, of course. But we will train him in the art of prank ahead of time." Remus grinned.  
  
"Poor McGonagall, she thought she had finally got rid of you all. Now, she'll have to deal with Harry when he goes to Hogwarts. Though I think he'll take after me, and almost never get a detention and will try to be good!" Lily laughed, seeing the horrified looks on the Marauders' faces.  
  
"No way. NO WAY!" James shook his head, trying to dispel the mental image he had- a eleven year old James with green eyes and round glasses (which he'd push up his nose constantly) and carrying a book like it was pure gold.  
  
"You never know." Lily smirked, knowing that there was no way James would let his son be a dumb jock, or a bookworm.  
  
"Some things you can tell. Harry's gonna be perfect. Just like me." James pretended to gloat. Harry, in his high chair, heard his name and began pounding on his tray again, screaming his name.  
  
"Harry! Harry! Harry be Daddy!" Harry yelled, banging his little fists against the plastic.  
  
"No Harry, you're gonna be like mommy." Lily cooed, getting up and picking Harry up.  
  
"Harry be mommy?" Harry asked in his oh-so-cute little kid way.  
  
"Harry, don't you wanna be just like Uncle Siri?" Sirius chimed in.  
  
"Harry be Uncie Siri! Harry be Uncie Siri!" Harry yelled, waving his arms.  
  
"Harry, be gentle." Lily warned.  
  
"Harry s-s-s" Harry tried to make out the word but couldn't  
  
"Sor-ry." Lily said slowly for Harry's sake.  
  
"Harry s-s-s-sorry." Harry said the word slowly, not getting it quite right, but close enough.  
  
"Harry, you learned a new word!" Lily exclaimed happily.  
  
"YAY for Harry!" Harry yelled, waving his arms again, causing the adults to laugh.  
  
"Yes, yay for Harry." James nodded.  
  
Later that day, other guests arrived for an impromptu party for Harry's birthday. All of the guests, excluding the Marauders, had children in the play group Harry belonged to. The only exception was the Weasley family. They had seven children, and all of them came.  
  
"I'll get it!" Lily called to James as she opened their front door.  
  
"Hello, Lily." Molly Weasley smiled warmly. After their husbands meeting at the Ministry, it was revealed that Lily was actually related to Molly- Lily was the daughter of Molly's second cousin, who was an accountant. They had been close friends as little girls, but had drifted apart when Molly was sent to Hogwarts and missed each other by a year there.  
  
"Molly! Its good to see you! Oh, and is this little Ginny?" Lily cooed, sweeping the Weasley clan in, oohing and ahhing over the infant in Molly's arms.  
  
"Yes, I finally got my little girl." Molly grinned. It was an aspiration of both women to have girls.  
  
"I can't wait for mine." Lily patted her stomach lightly, still giddy over the news that she and James had received three weeks ago. Lily didn't know for sure, but was hoping with all her might that it would be a girl.  
  
"Harry?" The one and a half year old Weasley child ask his mother tugging on her robe.  
  
"Lily?" Molly looked in question to her companion.  
  
"He's in the play room." Lily told the child.  
  
"Bill, can you take the children into the play room?" Molly asked her eldest child, who was seven years old.  
  
"Of course mum." The red headed little boy answered.  
  
"Come on Ron, Harry's this way." Bill took the hand of the one and a half year old, leading the Weasley children into the play room the Potters had set up. There were two extremely rambunctious three year old twins that were screaming in happiness, but Charlie, the six year old, shushed them with a light swat  
  
"Charlie, don't hit your brothers!" Molly called as the kids exited, and she sat down on a couch next to Lily.  
  
"They must be a terror." Lily said sympathetically, watching the twins.  
  
"They are. They're the reason I don't go to play group anymore- too much of a hassle." Molly sighed as baby Ginny woke up and began crying. After a few minutes of rocking, the two month old girl went to back to sleep.  
  
"I remember when Harry was first born. I'd thought he'd never sleep." Lily laughed quietly after getting drinks for Molly and herself.  
  
"Yes, all my boys were like that- Ginny's the only one who sleeps through the noise. Ron wakes up all the time with nightmares. Honestly, I wonder how such a little boy can make such a big noise." Molly joked.  
  
"Well, I think Ron will be tall- he's looks like it." Lily confided.  
  
"Perhaps. It looks like Charlie's gonna be sort, as are the twins. Percy Bill and Ron should be tall though." Molly said thoughtfully. A wail from the playroom announced that a child was hurt.  
  
"Oh well, it was too good to be true, them playing nicely." Molly laughed and the two women got up to see what was wrong.  
  
"James?" Lily yawned sleepily that night, after everyone had left, and Harry was down for the night.  
  
"Yeah?" James answered.  
  
"I'm so happy. Aren't you?" Lily sighed, laying her head on James' shoulder.  
  
"Of course. We have Harry, and another on the way. Not to mention each other." James nuzzled Lily's head.  
  
"We're lucky. So lucky." Lily yawned once more and drifted off to into a troubled sleep.  
  
"Lily, are you ok?" James was shaking her awake; the clock read 3:23am.  
  
"Oh James, it was horrible." Lily noticed that she was crying. She must have been doing so in her sleep, because her pillow was soaked. She had been dreaming that a nameless something was after Harry, and it wouldn't leave him alone until both she and James had been killed, even then the hooded something tried to kill Harry but couldn't.  
  
"What's wrong? A bad dream? Don't worry, dreams can't come true." James calmed his wife down.  
  
"You're right. It was just a dream. Just a dream." Lily repeated those word for the rest of the night, long after James had gone back to sleep. Around 5 am, Lily got up to get Harry who was wailing in his crib.  
  
Not even three months later, the Potters were favored with an unexpected guest.  
  
"Why Professor Dumbledore!" Lily exclaimed as she opened the front door.  
  
"Hello, Mrs. Potter." Albus Dumbledore smiled warmly as he was shown into the Potter living room.  
  
"Let me get James." Lily called as she went into the kitchen and pulled James from his breakfast, and picked Harry up from his high chair.  
  
"Hello Mr. And Mrs Potter. How are you faring? I heard that you had a little one now, is this Harry?" Dumbledore shook James' hand.  
  
"Yes, I made sure to submit Harry's name to the waiting list as soon as he was born. And please call us by our first names, its much less formal." Lily decreed, the four of them sitting down, and with Harry on Lily's lap.  
  
"Of Course. Now, I'm sorry to come here on bad news. Be that as it may, you both know of Voldemort and my fight against him, no?" Dumbledore questioned.  
  
"Yes, we do." James nodded.  
  
"Well, somehow your family, especially Harry, is posing a threat to Voldemort. I have received word from one of my spies that your family is their next target." Dumbledore said, seeming older than ever. It struck them how old he was, but how young he acted.  
  
"What do you suggest?" James asked, his brow furrowed. Lily hadn't made a noise, she seemed to be in shock. Harry grinned up at his mother, who smiled absently and smoothed his messy hair.  
  
"A method of hiding. You could change your name and appearance, and move away; but I don't either of you would like that. What I think is the best option, is the complicated Fidelius Charm. It is the concealment of a secret in side of a soul, the secret is your whereabouts. Voldemort could look in your front window and not see you when the charm is cast. The charm is broken when the secret is told." Dumbledore explained.  
  
"We'll do it." James nodded once.  
  
"You are free to choose your secret keeper, it must be someone you trust completely. I offer myself to be your secret keeper. I know this decision must take time, and that you must contact whoever you choose. Please owl me once you have reached your decision- I will perform the charm immediately. I cannot impress upon you how important it is that you trust your secret keeper- they will be guarding your lives." Dumbledore finished on a rather imposing note.  
  
"Of course, sir. We'll let you know about our secret keeper before the week is out." James said gravely.  
  
"I must go now, the task of educating our youngsters grows impatient." Dumbledore smiled and stood up, along with James.  
  
"Good luck, and hopefully, you'll be safe." Dumbledore shook hands with James again, and left.  
  
"James- what will we do?" Lily spoke, the first time after the news.  
  
"We'll ask Sirius, don't you agree? He'll protect us with his own life, I know." James went and gave his wife a sort-of hug, careful not to squish Harry.  
  
"Yes, Sirius would do that." Lily answered absently, hugging Harry to her.  
  
By the next morning, the charm was cast, Dumbledore teaching them how to perform the charm, since the Potters and their secret keeper had to perform it together. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had to leave before Sirius' stroke of genius. Use Peter, the weakest of the Marauders, Voldemort would [I]never[/I] suspect him. Good old Voldy will go after Sirius, and by the time he found out, Peter would have vanished.  
  
Just a week later, Lily and James sat in their living room with Harry, each of them doing their own separate activities. James was doing paperwork, which the Ministry had gladly given him at his request; Lily was reading a book; while Harry was playing quietly with a toy snitch. Lily sighed and shut her loudly, startling James out of his somewhat trance.  
  
"What's wrong?" James asked, putting down his quill.  
  
"Nothing- I just wish. Its nothing." Lily sighed again.  
  
"Its something, what's wrong?" James got up and sat next to Lily.  
  
"Well, I just wish that we didn't have to hide. That we could be like normal people. That Harry will have an actual life, not having to hide the whole time." Lily mumbled, unhappy.  
  
"Don't worry, our quarantine should end in three days. Peter told us what Dumbledore said- That nothing more had been said about us for two months. We're just taking a precaution. Three more days." James hugged Lily.  
  
"You're right. Besides, six more months until Wendy is born." Lily let herself grin.  
  
"Hey, you don't know it's a girl." James pinched her cheek lightly.  
  
"Of course I do- she's inside me." Lily giggled.  
  
"You don't know for sure." James maintained with a joking manner.  
  
"Of course I do!" Lily scoffing mockingly.  
  
"Harry play wiff Daddy?" Harry crawled over to the couch where Lily and James were sitting, holding his toy.  
  
"Does Harry want to hear a story instead?" James asked.  
  
"STORY! STORY!" Harry giggled and clapped his hands, dropping the snitch, where it hovered above the floor.  
  
"Lily, you have one to tell?" James questioned sheepishly.  
  
"Of course. Harry, mummy's going to tell you the story." Lily told her son, scooping him up in her arms.  
  
"Story!" Harry cried, very happy.  
  
"Well- Today is Halloween." Lily began.  
  
"Hal-hal-ooo-een?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yes, Halloween. And in the muggle world, they also celebrate Halloween. Now, every year, on Halloween, little kids would get dressed up and go from house to house, begging for candy, which was freely given. But, to get the candy, you have to say 'Trick-or-Treat.' Now when mummy was a little girl, one year she wanted to dress up as a witch." Lily told her son, and her husband, who listened with interest to her stories, as they were all fond memories she had. The story continued, and at the end, Lily found she could say no more. She shivered slightly, then had the heart-wrenching feeling of being shoved into a very cold shower.  
  
"Do you feel that?" She looked at James in question.  
  
"Yeah- being cold?" James confirmed and Lily nodded.  
  
There was a knock at the door. No one should be there- all they should see is an empty house. If it was Peter, the only person who could see them and talk to them, he'd go to the back door.  
  
"Come now James, aren't you going to open the door?" A high, cold, cruel voice called through the door. James jumped to his feet, dragging Lily up who was still holding Harry.  
  
"Lily- Take Harry and go! Its him! Run! I'll hold him off-" James handed Lily her wand that was on the side table and shoved her away, towards the stair way, towards Harry's nursery, and the second fireplace connected to the Floo Network.  
  
"James- I- I- I can't leave you!" Lily began to cry.  
  
"Lily, you have to go- think of Harry." James kissed Lily one last time then pushed her up the stairs.  
  
"You won't answer? Well, I'd break down the door then." The voice called again, and the door splintered apart with a blast of blue light. The offender stood there- a tall man with livid red eyes and an unhealthily pale complexion. Wand drawn and black robes about him, Voldemort looked sinister indeed.  
  
"Ahh, James Potter. I meet you at last. Are you prepared to die? You, like your son, have too much potential to live." Voldemort sneered.  
  
"I am not afraid of you, Riddle." James drew his own wand.  
  
"You dare to call me by my damn muggle father's name? Oh yes, you shall pay for that. He killed my mother, in all essence. He turned his back on her as soon as he found she was a witch. He turned his back on me, his own son, because I was her son too- he left me in a muggle orphanage! You dare to call me by [I]his[/I] name?" Voldemort's red eyes flashed with hatred and anger.  
  
"It is your given name. Voldemort is just a nickname." James commented.  
  
"It is, it is. But I am no longer Tom Riddle. I am Lord Voldemort, the one who will seek revenge on the wrongs done unto us wizards. Now James, will you join me? Find the power within you? Serve justice to those that deserve it?" Voldemort made his offer, one that would ultimately seal James' and his family's fates.  
  
"By killing the innocent? You killed my own family for all I know, and Lily's too." James shook his head in disgust.  
  
"You're right, I did kill your families, what a good guesser you are. But I am being kind enough to offer you a way out, being even kinder by letting your mudblood of a wife stand a chance. All you have to do is give me the boy." Voldemort smiled a sick, sadistic grin.  
  
"Never. I could never join forces with you, let alone give you my son to kill." James raised his wand, ready to duel.  
  
"Have it your way." Voldemort sneered, raising his wand, fighting a long duel, then killing James as soon as the opportunity arose.  
  
"I love you, Lily." James uttered his last words as sharp pain convulsed through him, then died, without a mark upon him. Voldemort smiled his evil smile, feeling the familiar rush that he got when he had killed someone.  
  
"Now to kill the boy." Voldemort started up the stairs, following the sounds of a woman crying her heart out.  
  
"Lil-ly. Oh Lil-ly. Why don't you come out?" Voldemort called, playing a sadistic game with her mind. Lily began to search more frantically for the floo powder. there it was!  
  
"Lily, trying to run now, were we?" Voldemort laughed a high cold cruel laugh.  
  
"Have mercy, please have mercy!" Lily cried, edging closer to her son's crib and the lit fire in the fire place.  
  
"Never, now step aside you silly girl." Voldemort seemed intent on killing Harry first.  
  
"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please-I'll do anything. Just spare Harry!" Lily pleaded, getting ready to throw her fist full of floo powder into the fire behind her. She was gonna make a run for it- she had her wand and she'd grab Harry. It was her only hope.  
  
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!" Voldemort drew closer.  
  
"Never!" Lily made a grab for Harry but Voldemort hit her with the killing curse. Lily's form quickly crumpled to the floor, crying out for a moment with pain, then silence, except for Harry who was crying in his crib, screaming for his parents.  
  
"Now, Little Harry, it is just you and me. I'm going to make this fast and painless- well I don't know if its painless, but surely dying can't hurt that much." Voldemort's grin was sickening. He kicked aside Lily's body and looked down on the crying boy.  
  
"Good-bye baby Harry." Voldemort sneered before performing the killing curse. Voldemort's vivid red eyes widened in surprise as the green light rebounded off the one-year-old's forehead, after leaving a nasty lightning shaped mark. It was rebounding unto himself. The house exploded as Sirius Black rode up on his motorcycle. He felt something was amiss and went to check on the hide-away that Peter had been in- it was completely deserted without any sign of a fight. And now this.  
  
"James- Lily- Harry." Sirius' face crumpled. He couldn't bear it. His friends were gone. only Remus left now. [I] That's it The story is done There's nothing to write Voldemort had won But wait, what's that? A glimmer of hope- Someone's alive A cry sounded in the night Little Harry had survived. [/I] And so the rest you already know. It's written in the books, in time, in fate: what will happen to Harry and the story of Lily and James. Two opposites. Yes, who would have thought? 


End file.
